3/EKY  CHURCH 
TS  OWN  EVANGEtlS 


.OREN  M.  EDWARDS 


I 


I 


ijiijiiijiiiijiiiir 


^ilii 


^iiiiiiil: 


2919 


Edwards,  Loren  McClain,  1877 

Every  church  its  own 
evangelist 


EVERY  CHURCH 

ITS  OWN 

EVANGELIST 


BY  ."" 

LOREN  M.  EDWARDS 


THE  METHODIST  BOOK  CONCERN 
NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


Copyright.  1917,  by 
LOREN  M.  EDWARDS 


First  Edition  Printed  October,  1917 
Reprinted  January,  1918;  July,  1920 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Foreword 7 

I.  The  Church's  Evangelistic  Pastor  ...  11 

II.  The  Church's  Evangelistic  Creed  ....  26 

III.  The  Church's  Evangelistic  Example.  .  42 

IV.  The    Church's    Evangelistic    Oppor- 

tunity       62 

V.  The  Church's  Evangelistic  Climate  .  .     78 

VI.  The  Church's  Evangelistic  Cross  ....     91 

VII.  The  Church's  Evangelistic  Crown  . . .  104 

Afterword 122 

Appendix 124 


TO  MT  FATHER,  THE  REVEREND  CHARLEB  C.  EDWARDS^ 
D.D.,  MY  FIRST  PASTOR,  AT  WHOSE  ALTAR  I  HADE  MT 
FIRST  CHRISTIAN  CONSECRATION  AND  FROM  WHOSE 
FRUITFUL  MINISTRY  I  LEARNED  MY  FIRST  LESSONS  IN 
PASTORAL  EVANGELISM,  AND  TO  BELLE  MCCLAIN 
EDWARDS,  WHOSE  MOTHER  LOVE  AND  PRAYERS  HAVB 
STAYED  ME  IN  MY  CHRISTIAN  EXPERIENCE  AND 
HAVE  HELPED  TO  HOLD  ME  IN  THE  PATH  OF  EVAN- 
GELISTIC MINISTRY,  THIS  VOLUME  IS  GRATEFULLY 
AND    AFFECTIONATELY    INSCRIBED   BY     THE    AUTHOR. 


FOREWORD 

The  man  has  not  yet  appeared  who  is  to 
say  the  final  word  on  evangelism,  nor  is  the 
time  ripe  for  saying  it.  The  time  is  always 
ripe,  however,  for  the  recital  of  experience  in 
a  field  so  vast  and  yet  so  vital,  so  comprehensive 
and  yet  so  central,  as  the  evangelistic  field. 

Evangelism  cannot  be  epitomized  in  a  sen- 
tence, it  cannot  be  compassed  in  an  epigram, 
it  cannot  be  reduced  to  a  formulary  statement. 
It  is  so  much  a  part  of  the  religious  life  of  the 
church  that  it  cannot  be  galvanized  into  un- 
changing forms  nor  comprehended  in  unchang- 
ing methods. 

If  it  is  to  reach  the  life  of  the  day,  it  must 
express  itself  in  the  nomenclature  of  the  people; 
if  it  is  to  win  in  the  midst  of  the  intense  social 
and  commercial  struggles  and  allurements,  it 
must  adapt  itself  to  modern  methods,  literally 
becoming  "all  things  to  all  men." 

This  modest  volume  is  not  an  attempt  to 
present  an  exhaustive  treatise  in  evangelism. 
It  is  not  a  statement  of  theory  nor  a  philosophy 
of  evangelistic  procedure. 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

It  is  merely  the  testimony  of  a  pastor  who 
has  stressed  the  evangelistic  note  during  a 
ministry  covering  seventeen  years  and  has  used 
as  a  working  basis  the  hypothesis  of  personal 
and  social  redemption  as  his  lifework.  Since 
it  has  been  found  to  be  successful  under  diverse 
conditions  and  over  the  stretch  of  these  years, 
he  feels  that  certain  deductions  are  reasonably 
safe. 

While  giving  full  recognition  and  cordial 
sympathy  to  those  forms  of  social  and  world 
evangelism  which  are  now  much  in  public 
discussion,  and  while  trying  with  all  possible 
fidelity  to  do  a  pastor's  full  work  in  the  leader- 
ship of  community  and  social  reconstruction 
according  to  Christian  principles,  yet  the  limits 
of  this  discussion  are,  necessarily,  such  that 
those  features  of  evangelism  must  be  over- 
passed. For  the  present,  therefore,  the  scope 
of  our  treatment  will  be  the  field  of  personal 
and  local  church  evangelism,  which  presents  to 
the  pastor  its  urgent  challenge  and  from  which 
he  is  able  to  reap  rich  harvests. 

No  special  literary  merit  is  claimed  for  this 
book,  but  in  the  hope  that  experiences  which 
have  been  stimulating  and  methods  which  have 
been  successful  and  conditions  which  have  in 

8 


FOREWORD 

them  the  elements  of  general  interest  may 
perform  a  larger  service,  the  activities  of  a 
busy  pastorate  have  been  punctuated  with 
preparation  for  this  work. 

The  evangelistic  leaders  of  various  com- 
munions have  been  a  constant  inspiration  to 
me,  and  their  plans  and  methods  have  been 
adapted  with  utmost  freedom  to  the  condi- 
tions with  which  I  found  myself  confronted. 
The  nature  of  this  book  removes  the  necessity 
of  a  complete  bibliography,  and  yet  there  are 
listed  in  the  Appendix  such  discussions  as 
have  been  of  special  service  in  evangelistic 
preaching  and  plans. 

Many  have  written  and  spoken  on  the 
various  aspects  of  this  theme.  Out  of  the 
studies  of  the  years  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
absorption  has  been  so  thorough  as  to  bear 
even  yet  strong  resemblances  to  the  thoughts 
and  utterances  of  others. 

The  most  that  can  be  said  now  is  that  such 
processes  are  quite  unconscious  at  the  date 
of  writing,  except  where  quotation  marks  in- 
dicate a  direct  following  of  another's  trail. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  deductions 
herein  made  are  the  result  of  evangelistic 
experience  in  various  kinds  of  pastoral  fields — 

9 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

rural,  village,  suburban,  and  city.  Methods 
and  plans  must  always  be  adapted  to  the 
local  situation,  but  many  of  those  detailed  in 
these  pages  have  been  operated  with  gratify- 
ing success  on  charges  out  in  the  open  country 
as  well  as  in  town  and  city. 

Much  of  the  material  used  in  the  following 
pages  has  been  employed  in  public  addresses 
on  evangelism  at  conferences,  colleges,  district 
meetings,  and  institutes.  In  the  assurances 
given  on  such  occasions  that  it  might  be  used 
of  God  in  a  wider  range  of  service  it  is  now 
committed  to  pubHcation  with  the  hopes  and 
prayers  of 

The  Author 

Baltimore,  August,  1917. 


10 


THE  CHURCH'S  EVANGELISTIC 
PASTOR 

The  pastor  of  every  evangelical  church 
should  be  his  own  evangelist.  It  seems  almost 
gratuitous  to  pause  longer  than  is  required 
for  the  mere  statement  of  such  a  proposition. 
From  the  earliest  traditions  of  the  churches, 
throughout  the  teachings  of  the  fathers,  on 
to  the  latest,  freshest  experimental  triumph, 
the  constant  ideal,  the  highest  goal,  the  loftiest 
aim,  the  consuming  passion  of  the  real  prophet 
of  God,  is  evangelism  in  some  form. 

And  yet  when  one  ponders  the  fact  that  in 
five  of  our  greatest  denominations  more  than 
thirty  per  cent  of  the  local  churches  report 
not  a  single  accession  on  confession  of  faith 
in  twelve  months'  labor,  the  way  is  lighted 
for  just  one  conclusion,  namely,  that  this 
evangelistic  ideal  for  pastors  has  not  functioned 
to  any  large  extent. 

To  be  sure,  an  exaggerated  statement  cuts 

through  its  own  scabbard  and  dulls  itself,  and 

an   undue   emphasis   upon   evangelism   in   the 

11 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

program  of  the  pastor  defeats  its  own  purpose. 
There  are  many  lines  of  ministerial  activity. 
The  minister  is  a  religious  teacher,  his  duties 
are  didactic,  his  training  and  habits  are  those 
of  the  scholar,  his  workshop  is  his  study. 
Therefore  there  is  some  show  of  truth  in  the 
contention  on  the  part  of  many  preachers 
that  their  scholarly  tastes  and  pursuits  unj&t 
them  for  evangelists.  *T  am  not  an  evangehst," 
announced  the  pastor  of  a  large  church,  with 
a  suspicion  of  superiority  in  tone  and  man- 
ner. 

No  one  in  a  moment  of  sanity  would  cast 
any  aspersions  at  broad  scholarship.  Neither 
would  he  discredit  learning  on  the  part  of 
the  preacher.  The  minister  needs  the  deep 
and  strong  foundations  of  intellectual  train- 
ing for  the  fine  structure  of  his  later  serv- 
ice; his  scholarship  can  be  none  too  thorough 
and  none  too  accurate.  But  the  scholar's 
besetting  temptation  is  in  the  direction  of 
coldness.  He  finds  it  difficult  to  keep  human 
interest  alive  in  the  midst  of  his  studies  of  an- 
tiquities or  of  abstractions  of  thought.  More- 
over, he  is  likely  to  give  abnormal  emphasis  to 
points  of  microscopic  value  while  the  currents 

of  truly  great  interest  sweep  past  him  unnoticed. 

12 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  PASTOR 

One  who  spends  all  his  time  digging  into 
Greek  and  Hebrew  roots,  who  exhausts  his 
sympathies  upon  Egyptian  mummies  or  ancient 
Hittites,  or  the  inhabitants  of  buried  Drehem, 
comes  to  feel  that  an  iota  subscript  or  a  vowel 
point  is  a  real  factor  in  human  destiny,  that 
a  Sumerian  record  of  the  sale  of  a  box  of  pet 
parrots  is  an  absorbing  human  document,  and 
that  if  some  storied  king  cannot  be  located  as 
to  dynasty,  century,  and  circumstances,  civil- 
ization in  this  day  cannot  advance. 

Scholarship  may  adorn  the  pulpit  as  a  queenly 
gown  adorns  a  lovely  woman,  but  scholarly 
activities  should  not  overshadow  all  else.  Let 
our  learned  ministers  lay  their  scholarly  attain- 
ments on  the  altar  of  the  church,  let  them  divide 
their  time  of  digging  between  Greek  and 
Hebrew  roots  and  the  darkened  haunts  of 
vice  and  the  festering  purlieus  of  the  wretched 
all  around  them.  Let  them  not  exhaust  their 
sympathies  upon  the  entombed  mummies  of 
ancient  cities,  but  save  some  portion  of  this 
alabaster  ointment  for  the  weary  heads  and 
the  tired  hands  and  the  crushed  hearts  of 
neighbors  in  the  next  block  and  of  folks  who 
get  their  mail  at  the  same  post  office.  Let 
them  know  that  humanity  in  our  day  needs 

13 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

even  more  than  erudition  and  intellectual 
brilliancy  and  the  knowledge  of  encyclopaedic 
learning,  the  red  blood  of  encouragement,  and 
the  warm  fragrance  of  love. 

Even  a  scholarly  minister  can  take  fire  with 
a  holy  passion  for  man,  while  a  savant  in  the 
pulpit  may  incandesce  with  the  white  fervor 
of  evangelism. 

The  minister  is  also  a  pastor,  a  visitor 
throughout  his  parish,  a  caller  on  sick  and 
needy  and  afflicted.  Yet  no  amount  of  parish 
work  and  no  number  of  pastoral  calls  can 
atone  for  failure  in  the  field  of  evangelism.  In 
truth,  if  the  pastor  will  carry  into  his  parish 
visits  the  strength  of  Christian  courage,  the 
optimism  of  Christian  hope,  the  beauty  of 
Christian  love,  he  will  evangelize  the  peo- 
ple. 

The  choice  of  Dr.  Jesse  O.  Peck  has  become 
classic.  He  declared  that  if  his  salvation  de- 
pended upon  his  winning  a  thousand  souls  to 
the  Christian  life  within  ten  years,  and  that 
if  he  were  given  the  option  of  exclusive  pulpit 
ministry  or  of  exclusive  personal  interviews, 
as  he  valued  his  eternal  salvation,  he  would 
choose  the  personal  method.  That  great  evan- 
gelistic pastor  of  the  last  generation  has  spoken 

14 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  PASTOR 

for  all  pastors  who  sense  the  evangelistic  oppor- 
tunities of  parish  labors. 

Again,  the  minister  is  an  organizer,  a  pro- 
moter, an  executive,  a  man  of  administration 
and  action.  He  must  deal  with  plans  and 
organizations,  facts  and  statistics,  property  and 
finance.  But  no  amount  of  mere  hustle,  no 
display  of  business  genius,  no  power  of  admin- 
istration can  rescue  from  pathos  the  pastoral 
career  of  a  man  who  wins  nobody  to  Christ. 

Bishop  Edwin  H.  Hughes  once  sat  at  my 
table  and  talked  of  a  seminary  friend  then 
holding  a  charge  within  his  episcopal  area. 
Upon  special  inquiry  on  my  part,  concerning 
this  bright,  well-equipped  young  man,  the 
Bishop  made  this  statement:  "The  trouble 
with  that  brother  is  that  he  has  never  dis- 
covered any  form  of  evangelism  into  which 
he  could  fit  his  abilities."  He  spoke  slowly 
and  kindly,  but  I  could  not  have  felt  worse 
if  he  had  pronounced  his  obituary.  In  fact, 
when  you  can  say  of  any  pastor  that  he  has 
never  discovered  any  form  of  evangelism  into 
which  he  can  fit  his  abilities,  you  have  pro- 
nounced his  obituary. 

The  demands  of  our  day  are  strict  and 
increasingly  keen.     There  is  no  place  in  the 

15 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

modern  pulpit  for  a  lame,  even  though  fiery, 
exhortation  to  hide  the  ghastly  nakedness  of 
one's  utterance  under  the  protecting  garment 
of  "gospel  preaching." 

You  can  never  kindle  the  flame  of  true 
evangelism  with  such  abominations  as  barren- 
ness of  thought,  laziness  of  study,  or  shallow- 
ness of  preparation.  Such  materials  will  do 
for  a  smudge,  but  when  you  blaze  and  glow 
with  the  fervent  heat  of  evangelistic  incandes- 
cence there  must  be  fuel  of  more  substantial 
and  permanent  character. 

I  entered  the  ministry  from  a  parsonage 
home,  a  home  whose  Christian  influence  was 
sufficiently  wholesome  and  virile  to  send  three 
sons  into  the  itinerancy  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  From  the  faithful,  fruit- 
ful ministry  of  my  father  I  first  learned  that 
the  pastor's  central  task  is  evangelism. 

I  recall  now,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than 
seventeen  shuttling  years,  the  rude  shock  that 
came  to  me  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  pastors 
of  the  district  after  my  first  winter's  cam- 
paign was  over.  I  had  come  to  that  spring 
meeting  fresh  from  the  victories  of  five  months' 
almost  constant  evangelistic  labor.  It  had 
been  a  winter  of  severe  testing  to  me,  but  one 

16 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  PASTOR 

of  genuine  triumph.  It  has  always  been  a 
matter  of  sincere  gratitude  that  God  put  his 
seal  of  approval  upon  my  ministerial  commis- 
sion in  the  results  of  that  first  year's  cam- 
paign for  souls.  In  the  alembic  of  that  first 
year's  revival  effort  I  tested  my  call  and  found 
it  divine. 

With  an  afflatus  not  unnaturally  coming 
from  such  spiritual  triumphs  I  went  to  the  dis- 
trict meeting  of  ministers.  What  was  my 
amazement  when  I  heard  expressions  from 
several  of  the  older  pastors  indicative  of  doubt 
or  failure  at  the  point  of  evangelism.  One 
man,  then  holding  a  prominent  charge  in  the 
district,  admitted  that  he  really  did  not  know 
how  to  lead  men  into  the  Eangdom.  Another 
man,  past  his  prime,  but  beloved  by  all,  con- 
fessed that  he  had  once  had  the  evangelistic 
passion,  but  had  lost  it,  and  that,  whereas  his 
earlier  ministerial  years  had  been  spiritually 
fruitful,  his  later  years  had  been  barren. 

Such  sentiments  were  staggering  and  might 
have  unsettled  me  just  then  but  for  two  things: 
one  was  the  continued  evangelistic  fruitfulness 
of  my  father's  ministry,  and  the  other  was 
the  victorious  winter  through  which  I  had 
just  passed. 

17 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

The  evangelistic  ideal  for  the  pastor  I  have 
never  lost,  but  have  tested  it  in  a  great  variety 
of  churches  and  conditions:  in  the  conservative 
rut-ridden  country  church;  in  the  weak  subur- 
ban church,  where  there  was  scarce  enough 
substance  to  hold  the  society  together;  in  a 
debt-burdened  church  with  a  dilapidated  build- 
ing; in  an  average  county-seat  church,  where 
the  people  were  satisfied  with  past  attain- 
ments; and  in  the  great  Memorial  Church,  the 
gift  of  a  millionaire  family,  where  the  people 
sit  in  mahogany  pews  and  where  furnishings 
and  appointments  are  the  utmost  refinement 
of  taste  and  costliness.  In  every  case  the 
evangelistic  program  was  given  a  chief  place, 
and  in  every  case  carried  the  day. 

Again,  the  pastor  is  the  logical  leader  in  the 

evangelism  of  any  church.    It  is  not  necessary 

to  repudiate  the  professional  evangelist;  it  is 

not  seemly  to  criticize  those  who  are  sweeping 

great  cities  with  the  public  evangelistic  appeal; 

it  is  not  wise  to  refuse  all  fellowship  with  those 

who   promote  the   union   tent  and   tabernacle 

campaigns    which    have    seen    such    a    vogue. 

Movements   like   these   have   their   place   and 

have  accomplished   spectacular  results.      Such 

evangelists  have  written  their  names  large  in 

18 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  PASTOR 

the  religious  history  of  our  nation.  God  had 
use  for  D wight  L.  Moody;  he  has  use  for 
"Billy"  Sunday  and  Gipsy  Smith  and  Torrey 
and  Chapman.  Without  doubt  he  has  use 
also  for  many  men  of  smaller  ability  and 
influence  who  are  devoting  their  entire  time 
to  evangelistic  work. 

There  come  times  in  the  history  of  almost 
any  community  when  great  gain  accrues  from 
a  united  evangelistic  appeal,  with  larger  re- 
sources than  can  be  commanded  by  a  local 
church,  and  with  a  mightier  impact  upon  the 
strongholds  of  iniquity.  But  certainly  such 
times  are  exceptional  and  occur  but  once  or 
twice  in  the  period  of  a  given  pastorate.  Let 
the  pastor  know  that  the  evangelistic  task,  even 
if  temporarily  taken  by  others,  is  fundamentally 
his  own.  If  some  Hercules  strides  his  way 
and  lifts  his  burden  from  his  shoulders,  let 
the  pastor  remember  that  he  is  the  Atlas  that 
must  speedily  resume  his  world  and  carry  it 
through  the  years. 

Expediency  may  direct  various  plans  of  evan- 
gelistic leadership,  neighboring  pastors  may  be 
enlisted,  different  helpers  may  be  employed, 
singers  and  personal  workers  may  be  secured 
in  special  campaigns,  but,  year  in  and  year 

19 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

out,  month  in  and  month  out,  at  the  center 
of  the  mighty  evangehstic  task  of  the  church 
is  the  pastor. 

Only  once  in  my  ministry  have  I  employed 
an  evangelist  to  conduct  a  campaign  in  my 
church,  and  only  once  has  my  church  united 
in  a  general  community- wide  movement  of  this 
character,  and  that  was  in  addition  to  our  reg- 
ular campaign  in  our  own  church.  For  the  re- 
mainder of  the  time  I  have  conducted  my  own 
work  in  this  field,  with  special  singers  now  and 
again,  and  particular  help  for  a  day  at  a  time, 
in  some  instances  from  nearby  ministers. 

However,  in  a  ministry  of  five  years  in  one 
church,  during  which  time  revival  campaigns 
were  conducted  each  year  and  additional  serv- 
ices at  the  Easter  seasons,  I  have  been  my  own 
evangelist  throughout. 

Upon  going  to  that  church,  with  pastoral 
evangelism  an  established  policy  and  practice 
in  my  ministry,  I  realized  that  such  a  pro- 
gram would  be  subjected  to  a  new  and  unusual 
strain.  The  situation  was  extraordinary  and 
in  certain  features  very  trying.  Within  a  few 
weeks  after  entering  upon  the  pastorate,  we 
dedicated  what  is  often  described  as  "the 
cathedral   of  Northern  Indiana  Methodism.'' 

20 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  PASTOR 

Stately  in  architectural  grandeur,  chaste  and 
charming  in  its  dignity,  rich  in  its  furnishings 
and  decorative  appointments,  it  might  be  re- 
garded as  a  difficult  church  in  which  to  see 
evangelism  flourish.  The  fact  that  the  build- 
ing is  a  gift  of  a  wealthy  family  as  a  memorial 
to  a  father  and  mother  seemed  to  accentuate 
the  delicacy  of  the  situation  so  far  as  evan- 
gelism was  concerned. 

That  such  was  the  current  thought  is  re- 
flected in  the  remarks  of  a  brother  minister 
who  exclaimed,  "Imagine  the  tears  of  penitents 
on  a  mahogany  altar!"  These  conditions  urged 
me  to  gather  the  entire  officiary  of  the  church 
at  a  dinner  and  to  speak  after  this  very  direct 
fashion:  "You  are  the  officials  and  I  am  the 
pastor  of  this  church,  which  has  been  dedi- 
cated to  the  worship  of  God.  I  believe  in  evan- 
gelism and  I  hold  the  assumption  that  you 
believe  in  it  likewise.  We  must  not  consider 
that  the  dedicatory  services  for  this  building 
have  been  completed  until  that  mahogany 
altar  has  been  bathed  with  the  tears  of  pen- 
itents. We  expect  to  win  people  to  a  life  of  con- 
secration to  Christ  and  his  service,  we  expect 
to  conduct  campaigns  of  evangelism,  we  expect 
to  give  our  church  a  constant  exposure  on  the 

21 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

sunny  slope  of  evangelism.  We  cannot  come 
too  soon  to  a  complete  understanding  on  a  mat- 
ter so  vital.  Absolute  cooperation  on  the  part 
of  pastor  and  officiary  is  indispensable  to  suc- 
cess. If  we  enter  a  revival  campaign,  we  must 
enter  it  together  and  must  stand  together;  but 
if  not,  we  may  as  well  know  the  worst  at  once." 
There  was  not  a  dissenting  voice  when  the 
vote  was  taken. 

In  the  month's  revival  campaign  which  fol- 
lowed there  were  more  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  conversions,  and  on  the  following  Easter, 
that  Easter  when  nearly  all  Indiana  and  Ohio 
were  deluged  with  the  worst  flood  of  a  genera- 
tion, I  baptized  and  received  into  membership 
almost  one  hundred  persons.  During  that  year 
there  were  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  acces- 
sions to  the  church,  the  last  two  being  an  aged 
couple  who  joined  on  that  Easter  morning. 
After  receiving  all  the  others,  we  were  about 
to  begin  the  doxology  when  the  final  invitation 
was  given.  These  two  old  people  were  present; 
each  was  over  seventy-five;  they  had  been 
converted  in  youth  and  for  many  years  had 
been  stanch  Christians;  but  they  had  moved 
to  the  city  from  the  little  country  church  and 
had  decided  to  take  a  Religious  "rest."    Such  a 

22 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  PASTOR 

course,  all  too  common,  registered  itself  in 
spiritual  atrophy,  becoming  more  "rust"  than 
"rest."  But  they  had  come  to  church  that 
Easter  morning  and  their  hearts  had  been 
strangely  warmed.  The  service  was  a  spiritual 
voice  calling  them  back  to  consecration.  The 
dear  old  lady  was  crippled,  so  the  husband 
came  to  the  altar,  broken  with  emotion,  to 
tell  me  that  he  and  "ma"  wanted  to  begin 
anew  their  Christian  lives  and  be  counted  once 
more  among  the  forces  of  the  church.  Just 
as  he  was  explaining  that  she  was  so  crippled 
she  could  not  walk  to  the  front,  there  she  came 
hobbling  along  and  reaching  the  side  of  her 
companion,  leaned  up  against  him  as  she  gave 
me  her  hand. 

Standing  in  the  choir  was  one  of  the  donors 
of  the  Memorial  Church.  He  completely  broke 
down.  The  entire  service  had  profoundly 
moved  him,  and  as  the  service  closed  he  made 
this  remark  to  his  pastor:  "You  know  some- 
thing of  the  trying  experiences  through  which  I 
have  passed;  you  are  aware  that  there  has 
come  to  me  just  about  every  sort  of  trial,  and 
yet  this  is  the  first  time  as  a  mature  man  that 
I  have  been  absolutely  overcome.  This  morning 
during  the  service  of  baptism  and  reception 
23 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

of  members,  I  recalled  the  money  and  thought 
and  attention  to  detail  that  have  gone  into 
this  building,  and  if  nothing  else  ever  happens 
in  this  church  besides  what  we  have  seen  this 
morning,  it  is  worth  every  dollar  of  the  in- 
vestment." 

But  something  else  has  happened,  for 
evangelism  has  become  an  established  program 
in  this  church,  and  the  pastor  is  expected  to 
conduct  the  revival  campaigns  just  as  certainly 
as  he  is  expected  to  preach  on  Sunday. 

If  there  ever  was  a  day  when  evangelism 
was  considered  an  inferior  type  of  ministerial 
activity  that  day  has,  happily,  passed.  Men 
of  the  broadest  training,  brightest  intellect, 
keenest  scholarship,  are  devoting  themselves 
with  abandon  to  the  evangelistic  phases  of 
their  ministry. 

In  the  introduction  to  his  book  on  The  Death 
of  Christ,  the  late  Professor  James  Denney,  of 
Glasgow,  refers  to  a  remark  once  made  by 
Plato,  like  this:  "If  kings  were  philosophers, 
or  philosophers  kings,  we  should  have  the 
ideal  state."  To  which  Professor  Denney  per- 
tinently adds,  "If  evangelists  were  theologians, 
or  theologians  evangelists,  we  should  at  least 

be  nearer  the  ideal  church." 

24 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  PASTOR 

Now  that  our  strongest  pastors  are  truly 
evangelistic,  and  are  bringing  the  rich  treasures 
of  their  learning,  the  fine  capacities  of  their 
brains,  the  warm  affections  of  their  hearts,  the 
keen  interests  of  their  studies,  the  broad 
reaches  of  their  achievements  and  centering 
them  on  the  problems  of  evangelism  in  their 
churches,  we  are  soon  to  light  upon  a  condition 
that  will  surely  set  the  angel  choir  singing  a 
new  doxology. 

When  the  pastor  is  the  evangehstic  leader, 
then  the  local  church  has  started  in  the  direc- 
tion of  its  largest  triumph,  and  the  Kingdom 
has  begun  to  come. 


25 


n 

THE  CHURCH'S  EVANGELISTIC  CREED 

The  church  beheves  in  evangelism.  This 
assumption  is  impHcit  in  our  study  and  is 
fundamental  to  the  great  movements  for  the 
building  of  Christ's  kingdom. 

It  believes,  first,  in  Pentecostal  evangelism, 
its  comprehensive  program,  its  authoritative 
purpose,  its  practical  plan,  and  its  easy  adapt^,- 
bility  to  the  conditions  of  our  day.  We  usually 
describe  Pentecost  in  its  extraordinary  and 
miraculous  features.  For  example,  we  speak 
of  the  sound,  like  the  rushing  of  a  mighty  wind; 
yet  the  sound  was  but  an  alarm  bell  to  call 
the  people  to  the  place  of  assemblage.  We  re- 
fer to  the  strange  utterance  of  the  disciples,  in 
that  the  peoples  of  the  various  races  heard  the 
gospel  in  their  native  language,  yet  that  was 
but  a  temporary  expedient  to  bring  the  Chris- 
tian message  speedily  to  the  polyglot  multi- 
tudes gathered  in  Jerusalem  for  the  feast.  Or 
we  call  attention  to  the  tongues,  often  pictured 
as  forked  flames  crowning  the  disciples'  heads, 

26 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CREED 

yet  these  were  but  symbols  of  the  universal 
testimony  for  Christ. 

These  features  were  but  the  signs  and  the 
circumstances  of  the  real  Pentecostal  wonder, 
which  is  too  often  obscured  under  the  emphasis 
upon  these  unusual  and  emergent  measures. 
The  wonder  of  Pentecost  was  simply  this: 
that  God's  personal  plan  for  world  redemption 
was  in  full  operation  through  the  testimony 
of  Spirit-filled  disciples,  regardless  of  rank,  or 
order,  or  sex,  or  social  standing. 

"They  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit 
and  began  to  speak" — all  of  them.  Not  apostles 
only,  not  men  only,  not  the  eloquent  only,  but 
everyone  had  an  experience  and  everyone  had 
a  testimony. 

Small  wonder  that  Peter  identified  this 
demonstration  with  Joel's  ancient  prophecy 
which  described  the  gift  of  spiritual  proclama- 
tion as  poured  out  on  all  classes,  even  to  men 
and  women  slaves. 

Just  as  long  as  the  Pentecostal  emphasis  is 
placed  on  that  strange  noise,  or  on  the  special 
or  miraculous  elements  in  the  gift  of  tongues, 
just  so  long  will  we  set  Pentecost  at  an  infinite 
remove  from  us,  and  encircle  it  with  such 
phenomena  of  the  wonderful  and  the  miraculous 

27 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

as  to  take  it  quite  without  the  range  of  our 
experience.  But  place  the  Pentecostal  em- 
phasis upon  personal  and  individual  testimony 
empowered  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  instantly 
Pentecost  is  brought  within  the  field  of  present 
and  practical  possibilities  which  may  be  actu- 
alized in  the  life  of  any  Christian  and  any 
church.  Therefore  any  pastor  or  Christian 
worker  who  cannot  see  in  Pentecost  the  norm 
for  his  personal  experience  as  well  as  for  his 
evangelistic  program  surely  cannot  see  sunlight. 
Again,  the  church  believes  in  revival  evan- 
gelism. Sometimes  we  hear  it  said,  even  by 
those  in  power  and  authority  in  the  church, 
that  the  day  of  revivals  is  past,  or  is  passing. 
If  these  friends  mean  that  methods  are  chang- 
ing, that  emphasis  is  shifting,  that  a  new 
nomenclature  is  forming,  then  the  question  is 
one  of  opinion  and  observation  and  need  not 
intrude  itself  in  such  a  discussion.  But,  if 
they  mean  that  modern  Christianity  as  ex- 
pressed in  the  organized  church  is  assuming 
such  a  position  that  great  spiritual  awakenings 
are  fast  becoming  undesirable  or  impossible, 
then  the  present-day  Christian  minister  with 
a  capacity  for  spiritual  interpretation  of  mod- 
ern movements  cannot  believe  it. 

28 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CREED 

Every  church  should  set  aside  a  definite 
period  each  year  for  an  evangehstic  campaign. 
It  warms  the  atmosphere,  it  renews  the  lag- 
gard, it  is  a  spiritual  tonic  for  the  preacher, 
worth  while  from  the  viewpoint  of  his  own 
religious  life;  it  awakens  the  spirit  of  testimony, 
it  intensifies  concern  for  the  wayward,  and  if 
no  other  consideration  remains,  this  Gibraltar 
is  still  unmoved  by  the  waves  and  storms  of 
adverse  criticism,  namely,  that  the  church  is 
largely  recruited  both  as  to  members  and 
ministers  from  the  revival.  No  odds  what  the 
value  of  other  methods  of  evangelism,  no  odds 
what  the  spiritual  deposit  in  our  homes,  once 
decimate  the  lay  and  ministerial  ranks  of  the 
church  of  those  who  have  entered  the  Kingdom 
through  the  revival  highway,  and  Gideon's 
wholesale  scheme  of  army  depletion  would  be 
retired  to  the  rear  as  a  back  number. 

Moreover,  the  church  believes  in  the  possi- 
bility of  a  revival  every  year.  Why  not.^  It 
is  the  harvest  time.  If  the  seed  has  been 
sown,  if  the  ground  has  been  tilled,  if  the 
growing  grain  has  been  cultivated,  there  will 
be  a  harvest.  It  may  not  be  as  large  some 
years  as  others,  nor  as  large  in  some  places  as 
in  others;  but  if  his  church  is  trained  in  evan- 

29 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

gelism,  thank  God,  no  barrenness  of  soil,  no 
blight  of  sun,  no  bite  of  frost,  no  plague  of 
insect  can  defeat  the  faithful,  spiritual  hus- 
bandman of  some  fruit. 

It  is  obviously  true  that  some  fields  are  more 
fertile  than  others,  but  we  may  well  go  straight 
to  the  center  of  this  problem  and  face  this 
fact,  that  when  pastors  and  churches  continue 
their  work  year  after  year  with  no  religious 
awakening  worthy  the  name  of  a  revival, 
then  the  fault  is  not  with  the  year  nor  the 
conditions  but  with  the  church  and  with  the 
preacher.  * 'Those  preachers  that  must  have 
revivals  will  have  them." 

It  is  true  that  the  laymen  in  the  church  look 
to  the  pastor  for  leadership  in  this  as  in  other 
religious  matters,  but  once  that  is  guaranteed, 
the  laymen  will  carry  their  end  of  the  evan- 
gelistic load.  With  pastor  evangelists  in  our 
pulpits  we  may  confidently  expect  lay  evan- 
gelists in  our  pews. 

There  is  a  heresy  of  all  too  common  credence 
that  one  successful  year  in  evangelism  will  not 
follow  another  in  a  given  church.  This  heresy 
will  not  stand  in  the  face  of  the  experimental 
tests  of  pastoral  evangelism. 

After  the  victories  of  the  first  year  of  evan- 
30 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CREED 

gelism  in  the  Mishawaka  Church  there  were 
many  who  were  generous  enough  in  their  pre- 
dictions that  it  could  not  be  done  again.  In 
the  radiant  optimism  of  assured  success,  how- 
ever, and  without  the  sHghtest  disposition  to 
surrender  to  the  dull  fears  of  pessimism,  we 
prepared  for  our  second  year's  work. 

A  "Win-One"  League  was  organized,  the 
request  being  made  that  the  people  sign  the 
following  card: 

THE  "WIN-ONE"  LEAGUE 

Confidential  to  the  Pastor 
I  hereby  enroll  as  a  member  of  the  "Win-One"  League 
and  will  faithfully  try  to  win  at  least  one  person  to  Christ 
during  the  January  Evangelistic  Campaign. 

My  Name 

Address 

Name  of  the  "One" 

Address 

"There  is  joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God  over 
ONE  sinner  that  repenteth." — Luke  15.  10. 

On  the  reverse  side  of  the  card  was  the  fol- 
lowing message: 
Dear  Friend: 

The  Evangelistic  Campaign  is  on  at  the  First  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Memorial  Church.  Your  interest  and 
support  are  needed  and  are  hereby  urged. 

31 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

If  you  are  a  Christian,  you  can  certainly  make  the  en- 
rollment requested  on  the  reverse  side  of  this  card.  If 
you  cannot,  then  sign  your  own  name  as  the  "one'*  and  I 
will  join  you  in  prayer  for  your  spiritual  peace  and  power. 

You  may  have  several  friends  on  your  list,  but  begin 
with  "one";  then,  when  won,  take  them  "one"  by  "one,'* 
but  be  sure  to  "win  one.'*  Return  this  signed  card  to  me 
at  once. 

Faithfully  your  Pastor, 

LoREN  M.  Edwards. 

One  hundred  and  thirty-five  of  these  "Win- 
One"  enlistments  were  made,  including  the 
name  of  the  "One,"  and  were  returned  as  a 
confidential  fist  to  the  pastor.  The  richest 
and  the  poorest,  men  and  women,  young  and 
old,  all  ages  and  classes  of  people  joined  this 
"Win-One"  League. 

The  plan  suggested  and  successfully  worked 
by  many  was  as  follows: 

First,  the  prospective  member  was  made  the 
subject  of  earnest  and  definite  prayer,  then  a 
private  interview  was  secured  in  which  the 
heart  desire  of  the  personal  worker  was  poured 
forth  in  passion  and  in  love,  and  the  invita- 
tion to  begin  the  Christian  life  definitely 
extended. 

Then  an  appointment  was  made  for  the 
next  or  an  early  service  at  the  church;  the 

32 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CREED 

worker  meeting  the  prospect  in  the  home  or 
in  the  rear  of  the  church  before  the  service. 
They  sat  together,  sang  together,  joined  in 
the  service  together,  and  when  the  invitation 
was  given  for  pubHc  surrender  to  Christ,  it 
was  both  easy  and  expected  for  the  worker  to 
say,  "Now,  let  us  go  together  and  settle  this 
question." 

When  such  a  plan  had  been  followed  in 
patience  and  prayer,  I  have  seen  people  yield 
to  a  single  invitation  the  very  first  service  of 
the  campaign  which  they  attended.  In  many 
instances  husband  and  wife  have  brought 
husband  and  wife  in  this  way. 

After  January,  evangelistic  services  were  con- 
tinued, in  what  was  called  a  "Revival  Exten- 
sion" on  Thursday  and  Sunday  evenings,  until 
April  first.  These  services  were  held  in  the 
main  auditorium  of  the  church.  Chorus  sing- 
ing added  to  the  brightness  of  the  music.  The 
pastor  preached  earnest,  straightforward,  gospel 
sermons,  and  made  a  direct  appeal  for  de- 
cisions. Nearly  every  service  was  fruitful  of 
results.  The  total  number  of  accessions  for 
that  one  year  was  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
five. 

One  good  evangelistic  year  may  follow  an- 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

other.  In  fact,  five  consecutive  fruitful  years 
have  been  experienced  in  this  church.  In  every 
case  the  pastor  and  people  have  worked  to- 
gether without  professional  evangelistic  help. 

Once  more,  the  church  believes  in  evangelism 
among  the  young.  It  does  not  discredit  the 
efforts  made  to  win  the  children  to  Christian 
life  and  service.  It  sees  the  open  gates  into 
the  Kingdom  "on  the  East,"  on  the  side  of 
life's  sunrise,  and  it  devotes  itself  to  recruiting 
among  the  children  and  the  youth.  For  one, 
I  do  not  apologize  for  the  fact  that  one  half 
of  a  thousand  converts  in  one  church  have 
come  from  the  ranks  of  the  young.  It  is  a 
matter  of  obvious  fact  that  the  Sunday  school 
is  the  ripest  evangelistic  field  in  the  church. 

During  a  revival  campaign  special  Sunday 
school  nights  are  promoted.  The  teachers, 
particularly  those  below  the  Adult  Department, 
sit  with  their  classes  in  seats  reserved  for 
them.  After  an  appropriate  message  by  the 
pastor  the  teachers  and  those  scholars  who 
are  already  Christians  make  a  personal  appeal 
to  the  others  for  an  immediate  surrender  to 
Christ.  Often  the  entire  altar  has  been  crowded 
with  members  of  the  Sunday  school  at  such 
services.     In   addition   to   this,   meetings   for 

34 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CREED 

boys  and  girls  are  held  on  occasion  after  school, 
including  a  direct  appeal  for  the  Christian  life. 

Certainly,  a  Decision  Day  service  will  crown 
all  these  other  labors  on  the  most  appropriate 
Sunday  or  Sundays  during  the  campaign.  If 
no  service  is  held  below  the  Junior  Department, 
and  if  the  Senior  and  Adult  Departments  meet 
together,  three  services,  at  least,  will  be  re- 
quired. The  pastor  will  be  invariably  in  charge. 
Then  the  crucial  hour  has  come,  the  seed  has 
been  sown,  the  climatic  conditions  are  favorable, 
the  homes  have  been  visited  by  teachers,  and, 
if  possible,  by  the  pastor,  and  the  earnest, 
burning,  heart-searching  appeal  falls  on  respon- 
sive hearts,  and  decision  for  Christ  is  made. 

It  is  the  policy  of  the  evangelistic  Sunday 
school  to  make  every  endeavor  to  have  no 
child  graduate  from  the  Junior  Department 
who  is  not  a  Christian  and  a  member  of  the 
church. 

To  deprecate  wholesome  evangelistic  work 
among  the  children  is  regrettable  indeed.  Dur- 
ing the  first  revival  campaign  conducted  in  a 
certain  charge  there  had  been  no  visible  re- 
sults by  Friday  of  the  first  week.  Just  before 
going  to  church  that  evening  a  woman  called 

the  pastor  on  the  telephone  and  reported  that 

35 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

her  son,  a  lad  of  eleven,  was  anxious  to  give 
his  heart  to  Christ  and  join  the  church.  She 
asked  if  it  would  be  agreeable  to  have  him 
make  the  start  that  evening.  Why,  of  course! 
It  would  have  been  agreeable  in  the  midst  of 
any  success,  but  especially  so  in  the  presence 
of  no  results.  That  lad  was  the  only  convert 
of  the  first  week's  revival  effort  in  that  city. 
Some  people  felt  that  very  little  had  been 
accomplished.  But  one  father  said,  doubtless 
with  his  thought  on  his  absent  son,  "Suppose 
it  had  been  my  boy.^" 

During  a  long  period  of  subsequent  illness 
this  same  lad  took  real  pride  and  pleasure  in 
telling  that  he  was  the  minister's  first  con- 
vert in  that  city,  and  that  if  he  should  live  he 
expected  to  follow  in  his  footsteps  into  the 
ministry.  Moreover,  he  did  live,  and  his  face 
is  now  set  toward  the  Christian  ministry;  and 
sometimes  when  effort  on  the  preacher's  part 
seems  productive  of  slight  returns,  he  cures 
the  heartache  by  thinking  of  that  lad,  the 
only  convert  of  a  week's  work,  calling  him  his 
spiritual  father  and  dreaming  of  the  time  when 
he  will  be  a  preacher  too.  Certainly,  a  big 
week's  job! 

The  church  believes  emphatically  in  personal 
36 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CREED 

evangelism.  Too  often  personal  work  is  in- 
terpreted to  mean  merely  the  speaking  of  a 
casual  and  unpremeditated  and  hasty  word  to 
a  friend  or  a  seat-mate  in  the  revival  service. 
If  you  had  lived  in  a  given  community  and 
were  not  a  Christian,  and  if  you  had  friends 
within  the  membership  of  a  certain  church,  and 
if  none  of  these  friends,  in  spite  of  many  oppor- 
tunities in  your  associations,  had  ever  given 
you  an  invitation  nor  had  made  a  single  Chris- 
tian appeal;  and  if  you  should  drop  into  an 
evangelistic  service  in  their  church  some  even- 
ing and  one  of  these  professors  of  religion  should 
come  to  you  in  the  public  congregation  and, 
without  thought  or  preparation,  invite  you  to 
make  an  immediate  consecration  to  Christ,  you 
would  doubtless  consider  the  act  an  imperti- 
nence. If  you  were  a  stranger  or  a  chance  ac- 
quaintance, then  that  stray  opportunity  might 
be  the  very  plan  of  Providence  in  the  labor 
of  that  personal  worker.  But  in  the  case  of 
close  associates  and  friends  the  divine  element 
in  such  a  procedure  is  almost  unthinkable. 

Most  of  us  have  found  that  the  way  to  do 
effective  personal  work  is  to  begin  with  a 
campaign   of   prayer,   bringing   to   the   throne 

of  grace,  in  earnest  intercession,  the  friends  in 

37 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

whom  we  are  interested.  In  private  interviews 
we  can  best  reveal  our  Christian  concern  and 
more  effectively  press  home  our  Christian 
appeal.  After  such  preparation  and  prayer  and 
with  such  faithful  and  persistent  toil  the  invi- 
tation at  the  church  is  as  logical  as  it  is  success- 
ful. No  far-seeing  and  experienced  pastor 
would  risk  an  evangelistic  campaign  without 
the  reenforcement  of  systematic  personal  work. 
The  greatest  evangelistic  leaders  of  our  day 
would  not  turn  a  wheel  in  a  public  campaign 
without  thorough  organization  and  loyal  co- 
operation on  the  part  of  those  who  are  expected 
to  do  the  personal  work. 

Once  more,  the  church  believes  in  church- 
wide  evangelism.  This  was  the  secret  of  the 
prodigious  success  of  the  Christian  Church  in 
the  first  century  of  its  history.  It  was,  likewise, 
the  secret  of  the  unparalleled  success  of  the 
Methodist  movement  in  England;  and  the  mar- 
velous triumphs  of  the  Kingdom  in  the  mission 
fields  to-day  go  back  to  the  early  adoption  of 
this  same  approved  plan  of  personal  evangelism 
as  an  essential  part  of  every  individual  Chris- 
tian's program. 

By  the  same  token  the  secret  of  the  poverty 
and  barrenness  of  the  spiritual  life  in  many 

38 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CREED 

of  the  home  churches  is  not  far  to  seek.  Too 
many  members  of  the  church  have  placed 
soul-winning  on  the  list  of  electives  in  their 
curriculum  rather  than  making  it  a  major 
study.  Too  many  have  regarded  it  as  optional 
rather  than  required.  Too  many  have  con- 
sidered it  a  spiritual  luxury  for  a  favored  few 
rather  than  life  and  breath  and  being  for  all. 

Finally,  the  church  believes  in  triumphant 
evangelism.  The  minister  and  congregation 
who  do  not  give  the  evangelistic  program  a 
fair  trial  are  the  skeptics  at  this  point.  No 
one  who  has  ever  worked  evangelism  doubts 
that  it  will  work. 

While  conducting  the  classes  in  personal 
evangelism  at  an  Epworth  League  institute  a 
few  years  ago,  the  writer  detailed  a  piece  of 
work  to  a  young  woman  who  had  never  at- 
tempted such  a  task  before,  although  she  had 
been  a  Christian  for  some  time.  When  she  un- 
dertook the  task  of  winning  a  young  friend  on 
the  ground  to  the  Christian  life  she  felt  the  un- 
dertaking to  be  a  monumental  one.  She  began 
in  prayer,  and  then  with  her  Testament  she 
started  out.  Her  success  was  so  signal  and 
her  sense  of  divine  guidance  was  so  real  that 
she  was  led  into  special  work  along  evangelistic 

39 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

lines  and  proceeded  at  once  with  a  course  of 
special  training  in  preparation  for  her  work. 

At  another  institute  a  girl  was  found  in  this 
anomalous  situation.  She  was  president  of  her 
local  Epworth  League  chapter  and  a  delegate 
to  the  institute,  but  with  a  fierce  hatred  burn- 
ing in  her  heart  and  with  no  sense  of  spiritual 
experience.  Arranging  for  an  interview,  she 
bared  her  case.  A  young  man  had  broken  that 
most  sacred  pledge  which  a  man  ever  makes  to 
a  woman,  and  this  victim  of  his  falsity  hated 
him.  Through  the  mazes  of  doubt  and  hate 
she  was  led  to  faith  and  peace  in  God,  and  on 
Sunday  dedicated  herself  to  Christ  and  the 
church  as  a  missionary  in  the  distant  fields  of 
the  Kingdom. 

O  yes!  the  church  believes  in  a  full  program 
of  evangelism — a  program  that  uses  its  natural 
leadership,  that  enlists  every  member,  that  cap- 
italizes every  opportunity,  that  plans  for  every 
week  to  register  its  evangelistic  triumphs,  that 
begins  with  the  children  and  continues  through 
the  adolescent  and  mature  years,  that  employs 
every  worthy  method  and  every  wholesome  ap- 
peal, that  maintains  its  organization  and  ac- 
tivity during  twelve  months  in  the  year,  but 
climaxes  its  efforts  during  a  given  month  each 

40 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CREED 

year  and  which  seeks  and  secures  the  spiritual 
eflBciency  of  the  entire  church  in  its  growth  and 
progress.  Indeed,  the  only  thing  which  will 
save  the  preacher  from  the  sag  and  stain  and 
the  barrenness  of  unchristian  ideals  in  his  life, 
and  the  pathos  of  preaching  with  no  redemp- 
tional  emphasis;  the  only  thing  which  will  save 
the  church  from  the  atrophy  of  spiritual  facul- 
ties and  the  tragedy  of  spiritual  paralysis;  the 
only  thing  which  will  save  the  world  from  the 
blight  of  its  sin  and  the  peril  of  hastening 
spiritual  disaster,  is  to  keep  clear  the'  evan- 
gelistic vision,  keep  strong  the  evangelistic 
passion,  and  keep  active  the  evangelistic 
propaganda. 

As  is  evident,  the  assumption  of  this  chapter 
is  that  the  church  does  believe  this  evangelistic 
creed.  That  there  are  exceptions  to  this  rule  is 
so  certain  that  it  were  a  gratuity  to  make  the 
suggestion.  But  despite  the  exceptions,  and 
with  due  regard  for  the  great  variety  of  eccle- 
siastical and  theological  programs,  we  are  ready 
to  register  the  firm  and  certain  conviction  that 
the  church  believes  in  evangelism  not  only  as  a 
creed,  but  likewise  as  a  working  program. 


41 


Ill 

THE  CHURCH'S  EVANGELISTIC 
EXAMPLE 

It  is  said  that  on  one  occasion  Julia  Ward 
Howe  invited  Charles  Sumner  to  call  at  her 
home  to  meet  a  distinguished  guest.  Sumner 
replied,  "I  am  losing  my  interest  in  individuals 
and  am  becoming  interested  in  the  race."  That 
night  Mrs.  Howe  wrote  in  her  diary,  "By  the 
latest  accounts  God  Almighty  has  not  gone  so 
far  as  this." 

Nevertheless,  this  tendency  exhibited  by 
Sumner  becomes,  in  some  form  or  other,  a 
temptation  to  many  of  us.  To  deal  in  generali- 
ties, to  speak  to  the  crowd,  to  feel  the  sway  of 
the  masses  and  the  lure  of  things  that  are  big — 
this  easily  becomes  an  infection  most  diflficult  to 
check.  We  do  not  care  to  deal  in  units,  to  go 
step  by  step,  to  bother  with  individuals;  that  is, 
if  we  can  manage  some  other  way.  Yet  the 
reaches  of  time  expand  second  by  second,  the 
infinite  spaces  of  the  universe  are  but  a  multi- 
plication of  points,  and  any  mass  is  but  an 
accretion  or  product  of  a  number  of  units. 

42 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  EXAMPLE 

Very  properly,  then,  when  Jesus  came  he 
brought  the  individual  into  correct  perspec- 
tive. He  spoke  to  the  crowds,  but  he  spent 
many  hours  of  those  three  priceless  years  in 
his  work  with  individuals.  Many  of  his  ser- 
mons were  delivered  to  an  audience  of  one, 
while  at  least  one  third  of  the  gospel  records 
deal  with  those  personal  and  private  discourses 
which  developed  and  trained  the  inner  circle  of 
the  twelve. 

The  evangelism  of  Jesus  may  be  described  as 
the  individual  method.  He  had  a  program  for 
the  redemptive  conquest  of  the  world,  and 
"program"  is  the  correct  and  discriminating 
word. 

Those  who  are  willing  to  allow  the  work  of 
the  church  to  go  by  chance,  or  to  drift  without 
chart  or  compass,  find  scant  comfort  in  a  study 
of  the  true  inwardness  of  Jesus's  ministry  and 
surely  cannot  lay  serious  claim  to  an  under- 
standing of  the  details  of  Christ's  mission  of 
redemption.  In  his  personal  action  and  in 
direct  command  he  stressed  the  necessity  for  a 
carefully  articulated  plan  of  redemptive  proced- 
ure. Such  a  program,  when  sharply  dissected, 
discloses  two  essential  principles.  The  first 
deals  with  the  enlisting  of  recruits  for  the  cam- 

43 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

paign,  while  the  second  deals  with  the  opera- 
tion of  the  campaign. 

After  thirty  silent  years,  broken  only  by  that 
Jerusalem  experience  at  the  age  of  twelve  (a 
tiny  cameo  of  rare  grace  and  beauty),  Jesus 
emerged  from  the  domestic  solitudes  of  Naz- 
areth to  receive  baptism  at  the  hands  of  John 
and  approval  at  the  voice  of  God.  Ready  to 
begin  his  mission  of  world  Saviourhood,  he  did 
not  rush  into  the  expected  offices  of  Messiah- 
ship.  He  did  not  blaze  a  trail  of  miracles  for 
the  gaze  of  a  wondering  populace.  He  did  not 
even  begin,  at  once,  to  preach.  What  he  did 
begin  to  do  straightway  was  to  win  disciples. 

On  the  second  day  following  the  baptism 
John  looked  upon  his  retreating  figure  on  the 
shore  of  Jordan  and  said,  "Behold,  the  Lamb 
of  God."  Directly  two  young  men  who  had 
been  disciples  of  John  began  to  follow  Jesus, 
who  turned  at  the  sound  of  their  footsteps  and 
invited  them  to  his  lodgings  for  the  remainder 
of  the  day. 

Do  you  see  it.f^  He  did  not  announce  himself 
as  the  Messiah.  He  did  not  discourse  on  salva- 
tion. He  did  not  say  "You  are  sinners  and  I 
am  Saviour,"  but  with  the  most  winning  word 
and  kindly  smile  he  said,  "Come  on  home  with 

44 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  EXAMPLE 

me."  So  mighty  was  the  impression  of  that 
invitation  on  one  of  the  two  of  those  young 
men  that  many  years  afterward,  when  he  pro- 
ceeded to  write  down  the  record  of  those  won- 
drous days  in  a  story  of  undying  phrase,  he 
remembered  that  it  was  just  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  when  the  invitation  was  given.  A 
little  late  in  the  afternoon,  it  would  seem,  to 
do  much,  and  yet  Jesus  thought  it  not  too  late 
to  win  Andrew  and  John,  the  writer  of  the 
Gospel  that  immortalizes  his  name.  Moreover, 
before  the  week  was  out  our  Lord  had  won 
five  more,  whose  names  shine  like  a  galaxy  of 
stars,  and  how  many  others  nobody  else  knows. 
Christ's  method  of  recruiting  workers  for  his 
campaign  was  the  personal  method.  He  gath- 
ered those  nearer  disciples  one  by  one:  John 
and  Andrew  at  the  word  of  the  Baptist;  Mat- 
thew as  he  was  sitting  at  the  booth  of  taxes, 
and  in  response  to  Jesus's  call  arose  with  eager 
and  immediate  enthusiasm  to  follow  him; 
Philip  was  found  in  the  pathway  of  the  Saviour 
on  the  way  to  Galilee  and  answered  the  divine 
call  as  he  walked.  And  there  were  four  fisher- 
men mending  their  nets,  and  being  summoned 
to  become  fishers  of  men,  they  greeted  the 
summons  with  immediate  abandon.    It  is  very 

45 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

clear  that  our  Lord  recruited  the  ranks  of  his 
inner  group  of  disciples  through  personal  con- 
tact and  personal  appeal. 

Moreover,  it  was  no  unknown  thing  for  him 
to  devote  himself  utterly  to  individual  needs 
and  problems.  He  talked  with  Nicodemus  on 
through  the  night  while  the  paschal  moon  was 
awane.  He  stopped  a  great  and  pressing  throng 
to  comfort  an  afflicted  woman  who  had  touched 
in  desperation  the  hem  of  his  garment.  He 
braved  the  meaningful  surprise  of  the  twelve  to 
talk  with  a  Samaritan  woman  about  the  water 
of  life.  Many  of  his  cures  were  individual  in 
their  application,  and  much  of  the  amazing  and 
miraculous  which  characterized  his  healing  min- 
istry was  enacted  before  individuals  or  small 
groups. 

In  harmony  with  this  face-to-face,  heart-to- 
heart  method  of  the  Master,  the  earliest  dis- 
ciples employed  the  personal  invitation  in  their 
work  for  Christ.  Philip  at  once  found  Nathan- 
ael,  an  acquaintance  and  friend,  and  greeted 
him  with  the  glorious  announcement  of  the 
newly  discovered  Christ.  "We  have  found 
him,"  said  he.  "Come  and  see."  And  then 
how  the  story  of  Andrew  thrills  us !  Introduced 
to  Christ  by  the  Baptizer,  he  thought  at  once 

46 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  EXAMPLE 

of  his  brother,  Simon  Peter,  and  went  in  haste 
to  find  him.  He  knew  his  brother  well,  his 
weaknesses  and  his  excellences,  and  doubtless 
guessed  what  a  tower  of  strength  Peter  would 
be  if  only  he  could  be  brought  under  the  spirit- 
ual power  of  Christ. 

Andrew  could  not  have  done  a  greater  thing 
for  Peter  nor  a  greater  thing  for  Christendom 
than  just  the  thing  which  he  did  do.  Peter  was 
eloquent  and  mighty  and  picturesque.  He  stood 
yonder  in  Jerusalem  and  delivered  that  match- 
less sermon  at  Pentecost, .  but  let  no  one  forget 
that  it  was  Andrew  who  led  him  to  Christ. 

Perhaps  no  preacher  since  apostolic  days  has 
surpassed  Charles  Spurgeon  in  the  wide  range 
of  his  influence  and  might  of  his  power.  Yet  a 
humble  and  now  unknown  minister  won  him  to 
the  Christian  life. 

Dwight  L.  Moody  went  into  the  fashionable 
pulpits  of  Great  Britain  and  stirred  the  congre- 
gations with  his  message,  winning  converts  by 
the  multitudes,  but  it  is  well  to  reflect  that  his 
Sunday  school  teacher  led  him  to  Christ. 

One  night  I  stepped  into  a  service  at  Pacific 
Garden  Mission  in  Chicago,  where  Harry  Mon- 
roe was  laboring  with  a  handful  of  penitents, 
but  in  another  city  "Billy"  Sunday  was  win- 

47 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

ning  the  converts  by  the  thousand.  Then  I 
reminded  myself  that  it  was  in  that  same 
humble  room  in  Chicago  and  at  the  hand  of 
that  same  Harry  Monroe  that  Sunday  was  led 
away  from  a  life  of  sin  to  a  consecration  for 
Christ. 

I  have  in  my  library  a  little  book  on  personal 
work  which  is  worth  reading  again  and  again 
because  of  two  features.  First,  the  inscription 
by  the  author;  second,  the  story  of  the  author's 
own  conversion.    This  is  the  inscription: 

"To  Edward  R.  Graves,  of  Lockport,  N.  Y.  (for  many 
years  a  commercial  traveler),  whose  persistent  and  tactful 
personal  efforts  brought  the  author  to  Jesus  and  into  work 
for  the  extension  of  Christ's  Kingdom,  this  volume  is 
gratefully  inscribed.'* 

This  is  Mr.  S.  M.  Sayford's  fine  tribute  to  the 
man  who  led  him  to  Christ.  Yet  such  glowing 
words  are  modesty  itself  when  one  remembers 
that  Mr.  Sayford  was  a  worldly,  godless  mer- 
chant in  Massachusetts  when  Mr.  Graves,  a 
traveling  salesman  for  a  New  York  paper  bag 
concern,  began  the  siege  for  his  soul. 

First  it  was  a  leaflet  on  drinking,  for  Sayford 
drank;  then  one  on  profanity,  for  Sayford 
swore;  and  finally  the  request  of  Graves  to  place 
the  name  of  his  customer  on  his  prayer  list.    In 

48 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  EXAMPLE 

Sayford's  private  oflSce  Mr.  Graves  displayed  a 
memorandum  book  containing  the  names  of 
business  acquaintances  who  had  given  their 
consent  to  have  prayers  offered  for  their  salva- 
tion. "May  I  have  your  name  on  the  same 
condition.^"  asked  Graves. 

The  request  seemed  so  reasonable  that  Say- 
ford  consented.  "I  want  you  to  write  it,"  said 
Graves,  with  fair  diplomacy;  "I  want  your  au- 
tograph." Mr.  Sayford's  hand  trembled  as  he 
wrote  his  name,  despite  his  positive  declaration 
that  he  never  expected  to  become  a  Christian. 
But  the  arrow  of  conviction  had  struck  home 
and  the  dynamic  of  prayer  in  faith  functioned 
here  as  before  and  since,  and  the  next  time 
Graves  came  to  see  Sayford  they  were  both 
anxious  to  get  to  the  former's  room  in  the 
hotel,  where  they  wept  and  prayed  and  re- 
joiced together  over  Sayford's  conversion.  Mr. 
Sayford  became  an  earnest  Christian  and  he 
won  C.  K.  Ober  to  Christian  service.  Ober  won 
John  R.  Mott  to  the  devotion  of  his  life  to 
Christian  work  among  the  students  in  the  col- 
leges, while  John  R.  Mott  has  won  thousands  to 
Christ  in  every  part  of  the  world. 

Simon  may  preach  at  Pentecost,  but  Andrew 
won  him  to  the  Saviour.    Spurgeon  may  sway  a 

49 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

tabernacle  full  of  people,  but  a  humble  preacher 
led  him  to  Christ.  Moody  may  cross  the  ocean 
with  a  message  that  stirs  an  empire,  but  his 
Sunday  school  teacher  was  the  means  that 
brought  him  to  Christian  confession.  Sunday 
may  stand  before  eager  thousands,  but  it  was 
old  Harry  Monroe  who  started  him  in  the  way 
of  consecration  and  service.  Mott  may  go 
round  the  world  and  turn  the  students  of  the 
Orient  to  the  Saviour,  but  old  man  Graves  was 
the  personal  worker  who  began  that  mighty 
movement  that  at  length  circled  the  globe. 

Furthermore,  Christ  had  a  plan  of  operation 
for  his  campaign  which  he  tested  first  and  then 
passed  on  to  the  disciples,  in  a  clear  word  and 
definite  command.  Jesus  went  straight  away 
from  this  gathering  of  his  earliest  disciples  to 
the  center  of  Jewish  life  at  its  capital  city, 
tarrying,  let  it  be  admitted,  for  the  wedding 
supper  at  Cana,  thus  blessing  the  family  fes- 
tivities. So  that  his  p^ublic  ministry  may  be 
said,  with  all  fidelity  to  fact,  to  have  begun  in 
Jerusalem. 

Again,  Jesus  went  direct  to  the  temple  which 
was  the  very  center,  as  it  was  the  very  embodi- 
ment of  the  best  life  of  the  Jewish  capital.  The 
scene  is  one  of  the  most  stirring  in  the  New 

50 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  EXAMPLE 

Testament.  Face  to  face  with  those  huckster- 
ing, bargaining  temple  attendants,  he  "apos- 
trophized them  with  words  of  bitter  invective,'* 
turned  over  their  tables,  scattered  their  money, 
and  drove  out  the  beasts  which  were  being  sold 
for  the  sacrifice. 

What  the  temple  was  the  city  would  be,  for 
if  the  house  of  God  had  been  made  a  house  of 
merchandising  and  of  extortionate  robbery,  then 
such  would  be  the  houses  of  men.  If  the  church 
is  not  held  sacred  as  a  house  of  prayer;  if 
reverence  does  not  capture  those  who  enter  the 
sanctuary  doors;  if  worship  and  devotion  do 
not  pervade  the  sacred  place  as  a  holy  presence, 
then  what  may  we  expect  in  oflSce,  and  school, 
and  home.f^  If  Christ's  glory  ever  fills  a  city, 
the  center  of  its  radiance  must  be  the  church  of 
God. 

Thence  Jesus  went  into  Judaea  for  a  brief 

period  of  ministry,  notable  for  its  popularity 

and  the  reaches  of  its  power.     From  the  city 

he  went  forth  unto  his  nation  with  the  message 

of  redemption,  as  any  true  minister  and  true 

church  must  do.    In  so  doing  he  set  the  example 

for  the  apostles  to  whom  he  gave  that  final, 

imperial    commission    to    begin    at   Jerusalem, 

where  he  began;  to  proceed  into  Judaea,  where 

51 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

he  proceeded;  and  (as  we  shall  presently  see)  to 
continue  into  Samaria,  and  Gentile  regions  be- 
yond, which  were  finally  to  spread  until  they 
became  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

Finally,  our  Lord  went  into  Galilee  and 
pushed  his  way  up  even  to  the  borders  of 
Phoenicia,  with  an  ever-widening  circumference 
of  power,  until  he  began  that  process  of  re- 
trenchment and  withdrawal  which  sought  to 
leave  more  time  for  the  personal  instruction  of 
his  disciples.  In  a  miniature  but  real  sense  he 
had  begun  at  Jerusalem  and  had  touched  the 
world.  Beginning  with  individuals,  he  had 
passed  to  multitudes,  and  then,  in  an  increasing 
degree,  to  individuals  once  more. 

In  the  application  of  the  program  of  Jesus 
the  first  item,  of  course,  is  to  enlist  the  worker; 
and  this  may  be  broadly  stated  as  the  effort  to 
make  workers  out  of  all  the  members.  A  church 
in  which  ministry  alone  comprises  the  working 
force  may  do  well  enough  for  an  ecclesiastical 
hierarchy,  but  cannot  be  successfully  operated 
in  this  day  of  broad  democracy  by  any  church 
which  seeks  real  contact  with  the  masses. 

We  go  back  to  those  days  when  the  Christian 
Church  was  in  its  first  glow  of  Pentecostal 
triumph,  and  we  find  that  every  disciple  was  a 

52 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  EXAMPLE 

witness,  every  member  a  worker,  every  believer 
a  personal  evangelist.  The  first  thing  neces- 
sary, therefore,  is  the  enlistment  of  the  indi- 
vidual, the  consecration  of  the  gifts  of  per- 
sonality, the  maintenance  of  such  recruiting 
plans  as  to  make  of  every  announced  disciple  of 
Jesus  a  pronounced  campaigner  for  his  Master. 

The  Church  of  Christ  needs  better  methods, 
but,  more  than  that,  it  needs  better  men.  It 
needs  more  members,  but  even  more  keenly  it 
needs  more  workers.  It  needs  clearer  plans, 
but  with  a  far  more  tragic  need  it  needs  in- 
tenser  passion. 

We  talk  about  a  "forward  movement"  in  the 
church;  such  a  movement,  needed  at  so  many 
places,  is  needed  in  no  other  place  quite  so 
much  as  this — a  forward  movement  of  the 
scores  of  church  members  who  are  not  moving 
so  as  to  notice  it.  That  is  to  say,  what  is 
needed  is  to  coin  workers  out  of  the  too  largely 
unused,  unpolished,  and  unrefined  bullion  of 
our  membership. 

A  certain  woman  stated  that  she  did  not  see 
how  she  could  leave  the  church  in  a  neighboring 
city,  when  moving  to  a  new  location,  because 
she  was  regarded  there  as  an  indispensable 
worker.    Rejoicing  at  the  prospect  of  an  addi- 

53 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

tional  worker  to  his  force,  the  pastor  asked  her 
what  was  her  particular  sphere  of  usefulness. 
To  this  she  innocently  replied,  "Why,  for  eigh- 
teen years,  whenever  we  had  a  church  supper, 
I  always  made  the  mayonnaise  dressing."  De- 
spite this  he  determined  to  give  her  a  larger 
employment,  for,  with  her  family,  she  united 
with  the  church  where  she  had  come  to  make 
her  home.  After  trial  she  was  ready  to  accept 
more  responsible  and  more  productive  positions. 
There  are  many  encouragements  to  the  pas- 
tor in  this  direction.  Now  and  again  I  look  over 
the  "Win-One"  enlistments  of  several  years  ago, 
the  cards  of  which  I  retain  for  reference.  They 
make  interesting  reading.  Many  of  the  names, 
entered  as  prospects,  are  now  earnest,  faithful 
workers  in  the  church,  now  enthusiastic  in  per- 
sonal evangelism.  Some  of  the  relationships  on 
the  cards  are  very  suggestive.  A  mother  gives 
the  name  of  her  son  as  the  "one"  for  whom  she 
is  praying.  A  father  and  a  mother  give  the 
names  of  their  sons,  adding  "our  boys."  A 
young  man  writes  "Father,"  and  presses  into 
his  pencil  point  the  agonized  intercession  of  a 
son.  Neighbors  enroll  to  win  neighbors,  friends 
to  win  friends,  and  estranged  relatives  or  asso- 
ciates begin  the  way  to  reconciliation  by  the 

54 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  EXAMPLE 

path  of  intercession.  Among  those  who  en- 
rolled as  workers  were  new  members  and  old, 
business  and  professional  men,  clerks  and 
teachers,  shopmen  and  farmers,  high  school 
students  and  athletes,  timid  women  and  girls, 
husky  boys  and  strong  men.  It  is  a  demon- 
strable fact  that  if  a  layman  is  given  a  definite 
piece  of  evangelistic  work  to  do,  speaking  by 
and  large,  he  will  do  it. 

In  the  operation  of  the  campaign  exemplified 
by  Christ  in  the  local  church,  one  of  the  most 
encouraging  features  is  this  fact.  Here  is  a 
method  of  evangelism  that  any  Christian  can 
use,  namely,  the  personal  method.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  know  how  Jesus  evangelized,  but  is 
more  significant  to  know  that  when  he  did 
evangelize  he  employed  a  method  which  every 
one  of  us  can  use.  He  was  doing  something  in 
Galilee  that  he  expected  to  be  done  in  India  or 
in  Indiana  or  in  Oregon  or  in  Maryland,  and, 
indeed,  can  be  done. 

Therefore  one  of  the  most  jubilant  things  that 
can  be  said  about  personal  evangelism  is  just 
this:  anybody  can  do  it.  It  does  not  require 
superiority  of  gifts,  nor  brilliancy  of  intellect; 
it  does  not  depend  upon  eloquence  of  speech, 
nor  logic  of  argument;  one  does  not  need  to 

55 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

have  physical  charms  nor  powers  of  endurance. 
All  that  is  required  is  a  faith  in  Christ,  a  love 
for  men,  a  joy  of  release  from  the  staining 
power  of  sin,  and  a  simple,  earnest,  straightfor- 
ward appeal:  this  is  personal  evangelism,  and 
it  can  be  operated  anywhere. 

Personal  evangelism,  moreover,  links  itself 
with  every  form  and  adapts  itself  to  every 
field  of  Christian  work.  This  fact  the  varied 
ministry  of  Jesus  fully  illustrates.  Preacher, 
Teacher,  Missionary,  Healer,  his  program  of 
personal  contact  registered  his  greatest  tri- 
umphs. The  same  is  true  in  our  own  day. 
The  great  evangelist  who  preaches  to  multi- 
tudes and  who  counts  his  converts  by  the 
thousands,  owes  no  small  measure  of  his  suc- 
cess to  his  organized  personal  workers.  The 
pastor  who  faces  the  great  congregation  and 
sends  forth  his  message  with  unction  and  zeal 
really  does  his  biggest,  strongest,  hardest  work 
when  he  faces  an  audience  of  one  and  presses 
home  the  claims  of  Jesus  Christ.  Even  the 
missionary,  often  pictured  as  surrounded  in  the 
public  squares  and  open  spaces  by  the  curious 
throng,  probably  does  his  most  eflScient  work 
in  a  hand-to-hand  conflict  and  a  face-to-face 
instruction. 

56 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  EXAMPLE 

Likewise  at  home,  no  matter  what  the  field  of 
labor,  whether  in  the  Sunday  school  or  the 
Young  People's  Society,  or  in  other  organiza- 
tions of  the  church,  the  personal  method  is  found 
to  be  preeminent  in  every  field  of  service. 

Again,  we  need  to  consider  the  inspiring  fact 
that  the  method  of  evangelism  which  Jesus 
used  and  which  everybody  can  use  is  precisely 
the  method  which  brings  the  greatest  results. 
There  will  be  dangers  here,  and  we  need  have 
caution.  One  danger  is  that  apart  from  the 
crowd,  in  the  personal  struggle,  we  may  feel 
that  it  is  small  business  and  does  not  count  for 
much;  but  it  is  big  business.  It  decides  the 
destiny  of  immortal  souls.  It  makes  the  great 
ingathering  possible,  and  furnishes  the  initial 
measures  for  those  mass  movements  that  finally 
may  touch  time's  far  distant  shore. 

A  young  minister  found  on  his  first  charge  an 
old  gentleman  eighty-two  years  of  age.  It  had 
been  his  habit  for  years  to  attend  the  church, 
but  to  pose  as  a  "free  thinker,"  to  argue  with 
the  preachers  and  to  answer  their  theology. 
During  the  young  pastor's  revival  meetings, 
white  and  bent  and  aged,  and  leaning  on  his 
cane,  he  came  to  the  services  and  listened,  and 
went  out.    That  little  community  was  stirred. 

57 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

Many  families  were  led  to  Christ  during  the 
meeting.  Leading  citizens  were  brought  into 
the  Kingdom,  but  this  old  man  stayed  out. 
Several,  including  the  pastor,  spoke  to  him 
about  Christ,  timidly  and  doubtfully,  perhaps 
then  feeling  that  full  duty  had  been  discharged, 
then  were  relieved  that  it  was  all  over.  The 
meeting  closed.  That  man  did  not  yield — 
nobody  expected  him  to.  Wait!  Nobody .^^ 
Yes,  there  were  two  that  did.  That  old 
wrinkled,  broken  companion  who  had  prayed 
for  him  for  sixty  years,  and  a  maiden  daughter 
who  had  never  lost  hope  for  her  father.  This 
daughter  went  to  the  pastor  after  the  close  of 
the  campaign,  and  said  in  heart-broken  despera- 
tion, "Pastor,  I  believe  father  can  be  won  to 
Christ,  if  you  will  go  and  talk  to  him." 

How  could  he  win  him?  Besides  he  had  gone, 
but  how.?  He  would  go,  and  go  to  win!  Prayer 
was  real  intercession  before  that  call.  The  hum- 
ble little  home  in  the  country  settlement  was 
six  miles  away.  One  can  think  many  things  in 
riding  six  miles.  He  trembled  as  he  hitched  his 
horse  in  front  of  the  house.  The  old  man  was 
sitting  in  his  chair.  How  the  ordinary  common- 
places of  greeting  grated  with  their  trivialities! 
That  preacher  was  there  on  bigger  business. 

58 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  EXAMPLE 

The  first  word  spoken  to  the  old  man 
startled  him.  He  knew  that  the  man  of  God 
was  in  dead  earnest.  Christ  was  held  before  the 
old  man's  dimming  eyes.  There  was  no  argu- 
ment, no  trial  at  theology;  Christ,  the  Saviour 
for  him,  was  exalted.  The  readiness  with  which 
he  accepted  the  offer  was  a  puzzle.  The  young 
preacher  was  unhorsed;  he  felt  that  the  old 
man  was  fooling  somehow,  but  when  the  eyes 
were  found  filling,  and  the  lips  quivering,  he 
knew  that  the  feeble  "I  will"  was  a  surrender 
which  angels  wrote  down  in  the  Book  of  Life. 
After  the  revival  services  were  over,  at  the 
next  preaching  service,  the  trembling  hands 
were  taken  in  the  strong  glad  hands  of  the 
pastor  as  the  aged  convert  was  welcomed  into 
the  church. 

Just  a  few  years  ago,  while  on  that  charge 
again,  at  the  dedicatory  services  for  a  new 
church,  that  daughter  came  several  miles  to 
tell  that  pastor  of  her  father's  last  days,  and 
of  his  triumphant  death,  and  to  thank  him 
again  for  the  thousandth  time,  perhaps,  for  his 
part  in  those  closing  peaceful  years,  and  happy 
ending.  His  part.^^  It  was  not  much;  think  of 
the  constant  prayers  of  that  wife  and  daughter; 
think  of  the  margin  by  which  the  young  preacher 

59 


EVERY  CHUECH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

all  but  missed  the  chance.  His  part?  It  was 
simply  the  part  of  the  personal  evangelist  point- 
ing a  wanderer  to  Christ. 

Such  a  course  was  simply  following  the  ex- 
ample of  our  Lord  when  he  was  gathering  his 
disciples,  and  it  cannot  be  bettered  to  this  day. 
It  was  the  method  that  won  John  B.  Gough 
and  J.  Wilbur  Chapman  and  John  Bunyan, 
and  the  most  of  those  who  have  come  to  prom- 
inence in  the  various  fields  of  Christian  ac- 
tivity. 

Now,  having  seen  Christ  at  the  task  of  evan- 
gelism, and  having  felt  the  thrill  of  his  example, 
what  is  to  be  done  about  it?  Is  all  this  to  be 
passed  as  the  impossible  ideal  of  a  day  gone  by? 
Is  this  to  be  regarded  as  the  superheated  en- 
thusiasm of  a  Man  beside  himself?  Must  our 
day  be  held  to  the  old,  staid  conservatism? 
Must  this  program  be  marked  down  at  a  dis- 
count of  fifty  per  cent?  Will  the  common 
round  drag  on  with  its  socials  and  business  and 
full  quota  of  engagements?  Or  will  this  pro- 
gram of  personal  evangelism,  sanctioned  both  by 
the  example  and  the  command  of  Christ,  halt 
us  and  set  our  feet  in  the  path  of  this  Christ- 
appointed,    time-honored,    heaven-blest,    and 

most  successful  of  all  plans  for  personal  and 

60 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  EXAMPLE 

social  redemption?  We  will  kindle  with  this 
holy  flame  of  spiritual  enthusiasm,  we  will  give 
this  program  its  full  and  proper  appraisal,  we 
will  win  our  friends  and  acquaintances  to  Christ, 
or  die  of  heartbreak. 


61 


IV 

THE  CHURCH'S  EVANGELISTIC 
OPPORTUNITY 

The  first  item  in  the  evangelistic  oppor- 
tunity  of  the  church  is  possession. 

The  church  possesses  Jesus  Christ  as  living 
Lord  and  Leader.  No  claim  would  be  made 
that  it  has  exclusive  possession,  but  it  does 
have  him  as  Saviour  and  Redeemer.  This 
statement  is  made  in  the  present  tense,  active 
voice,  indicative  mood,  without  question  or 
qualification.  This  is  an  assumption  which  is, 
or  should  be,  always  true,  and  should  be  main- 
tained until  disproven. 

Christian  experience  is  an  assumptive  pos- 
session of  the  Christian  Church  and  no  apol- 
ogy is  required  or  expected  for  making  it. 
Here  is  the  evangelistic  point  of  departure  for 
the  entire  church.  Christian  experience  need 
not  be  removed  to  a  realm  of  superior  and 
mystical  spiritual  affluence,  attainable  only  by 
a  favored  and  select  few.  It  is  a  gratuitous  and 
compromising  procedure  to  begin  by  inscribing 

an  inner  circle  within  the  circle  of  the  church 

62 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  OPPORTUNITY 

membership  and  confining  spiritual  reality  and 
experience  to  that  inner  group. 

If  a  person  is  a  member  of  the  church,  the 
pastor  should  start  with  the  assumption  that 
he  is  a  live  Christian,  and  should  maintain 
that  assumption  until  the  development  of  fact 
discredits  it.  If  a  man  is  an  official  in  the 
church,  the  pastor,  with  perfect  justice  and 
propriety,  assumes  that  he  will  pray  as  well 
as  pay;  that  he  will  attend  revival  meetings 
as  well  as  official  meetings;  and  that  he  will 
accept  assignment  for  special  personal  duty  as 
readily  as  for  committee  work  of  a  business  or 
financial  character. 

When  such  position  is  made  clear  to  the  offi- 
ciary of  a  church  by  a  tactful  pastor,  and  when 
the  expectation  is  voiced  that  an  official  meeting 
will  be  practicabl©^  any  evening  after  a  revival 
service,  with  a  majority  present  and  with  no  pre- 
vious announcement,  the  faith  and  assumption  of 
the  pulpit  usually  function  in  a  responsive  pew. 

When  assigning  tasks  to  our  personal  workers 

I,  for  one,  assume  that  the  people  are  ready 

for  duty.    Sometimes  it  transpires  that  such  is 

not  the  case,  but,  in  any  event,  the  best  and 

quickest  way  to  clear  up  the  situation  is  to 

make  the  assignment. 

63 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

There  are  those,  among  both  clergy  and 
laity,  who  take  issue  on  this  point.  W^hen  I 
read  out  my  first  list  of  personal  workers  at  a 
certain  church  some  of  the  members  nearly 
fainted.  In  breathless  haste  they  came  to  me 
and  said,  "You  have  read  the  names  of  cer- 
tain people  who  never  did  such  work  and  never 
will;  why,  they  will  be  scared  to  death  when 
they  receive  this  list."  And  more  of  the  same 
advice.  You  cannot  scare  anyone  to  death 
who  is  already  dead;  and  if  one  is  not  dead,  a 
proposition  of  this  kind  will  stir  him  into 
action. 

During  one  of  our  revival  campaigns,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  official  board  came  to  me  at  the 
close  of  a  stirring  Sunday  evening  service.  He 
had  shown  no  great  concern  for  the  more  spir- 
itual activities,  but  on  this  particular  evening 
a  man  of  his  close  acquaintance  was  in  the  con- 
gregation. This  friend's  wife  and  daughter  were 
recent  converts,  and  the  time  seemed  ripe  for 
decision  and  surrender.  My  official  brother 
came  up  all  a-quiver  and  whispered,  "There 
is  that  man  back  there,"  calling  his  name,  "and 
I  beheve  that  he  can  be  reached  if  you  will 
go  back  and  speak  to  him."  This  was  my 
answer:   "I   beheve  that  he  can  be  reached 

64 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  OPPORTUNITY 

to-night  if  you  will  go  back  and  speak  to  him." 
His  face  flushed,  as  he  replied,  "I  never  did 
such  a  thing  in  my  life."  Giving  him  a  friendly 
push  in  the  man's  dir«ection,  I  said:  "You  can- 
not begin  any  earlier." 

Now,  what  happened.^  Here  was  this  man 
to  whom  religion  had  never  been  an  afflatus, 
this  official  who  never  had  done  that  kind 
of  work,  and  was  not  expected  to  do  it,  this 
very  fellow  went  straight  for  his  man.  When  a 
business  man  undertakes  a  task  of  that  kind 
he  usually  goes  at  it  to  win.  What  he  said 
to  him  first,  I  do  not  know,  for  I  was  busy  in 
another  direction,  but  when  I  came  up  to  them 
they  were  standing  together  in  the  aisle  and 
the  official  was  pleading  for  an  immediate  sur- 
render to  Christ. 

Taking  these  men  and  a  few  others,  including 
the  wives  of  some  of  the  men,  we  went  into 
the  pastor's  room  for  an  after  service.  We 
prayed  and  talked  in  an  informal  fashion, 
stayed  until  the  seeker  was  conscious  of  his 
personal  acceptance,  and  had  a  blessed  little 
meeting.  The  first  thing  we  knew  this  erst- 
while indifferent  official  was  talking  with  the 
others,  giving  a  real  Christian  testimony. 

On  the  following  evening  we  had  a  general 
65 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

testimony  service  in  the  revival  meeting,  and 
the  new  convert,  the  man  gathered  in  after  the 
service  was  over  on  the  preceding  night,  arose 
and  gave  a  testimony.  I  watched  the  effect 
upon  my  oJ0Bcial  brother,  who  was  in  another 
part  of  the  room :  it  was  immediate  and  electric. 
Here  was  this  man,  the  first  he  had  ever  tried 
to  win,  testifying  for  Christ.  On  the  instant 
he  was  on  his  feet  giving  his  first  spoken  Chris- 
tian testimony  in  a  public  meeting  of  that 
kind.  Christian  experience  is  so  central  to 
all  Christian  activity  that  it  should  be  assumed 
as  a  personal  possession  of  the  church  until 
disproven  by  fact. 

The  next  item  in  the  evangelistic  opportunity 
of  the  church  is  association. 

That  was  a  happy  phrase  which,  several 
years  ago,  found  expression  in  Epworth  League 
evangehsm,  "Win-My-Chum  Week."  That 
phrase  gave  a  much-needed  focus  to  the  evan- 
gelistic efforts  of  the  young  people.  Very  much 
of  our  talk  on  evangelism  is  vain  because 
visionary;  and  very  much  of  our  work  in 
evangelism  is  futile  because  we  make  no  con- 
nection between  our  general  program  and  the 
pressing  and  practical  opportunities  at  our 
elbows.     "Win-My-Chum"  makes  this  needed 

66 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  OPPORTUNITY 

connection.  "The  light  that  shines  farthest 
shines  brightest  at  home,"  and  an  evangehstic 
passion  which  reaches  the  stranger  in  the  dis- 
tant corners  of  the  earth,  or  the  fallen  in  the 
city's  slums,  will  burn  its  brightest  and  blaze 
its  hottest  for  the  unsaved  friend  and  com- 
panion. Through  its  members,  the  church  has 
many  lines  of  association  with  those  who  are 
not  Christians.  Knowing  their  problems,  their 
difficulties,  their  strength,  their  weakness,  their 
objections,  there  is  a  tremendous  leverage  for 
appeal.  The  ground  is  fallow,  the  highway 
straight  and  smooth,  the  case  accessible. 

Within  sight  and  sound  of  any  church  there 
are  available  prospects  for  the  kingdom  of 
God.  In  the  circle  of  the  acquaintance  of 
every  member  there  are  people  who  are  access- 
ible to  the  Christian  appeal.  Without  doubt 
there  are  those  who  prefer  to  do  their  evan- 
gelistic work  among  strangers.  Parents  say  as 
much  concerning  their  children,  wives  often 
feel  the  same  concerning  their  husbands,  etc. 
Yet  the  closer  the  relationship  of  Life,  the 
greater  the  evangelistic  opportunity. 

A  certain  man  has  been  the  subject  of  much 

evangelistic    effort.      Three    members    of    his 

family  are  members  of  the  church.    There  have 

67 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

been  times  when  an  intensive  campaign  of 
prayer,  persuasion,  and  pressure  seemed  cer- 
tain to  move  this  man,  who  is  outwardly  moral 
and  exemplary  in  many  ways.  More  than 
once  that  son  has  poured  out  his  burdened 
heart  in  intercession  for  his  father,  and  has 
wept  hot  tears  of  anguish  for  the  surrender 
that  did  not  come.  The  case  was  a  puzzle 
for  a  time,  for  there  seemed  to  be  every  reason 
why  the  prodigious  labors  that  had  been  put 
forth  would  be  crowned  with  victory.  Then 
a  discovery  was  made.  One  day  something 
happened  in  the  operation  of  the  affairs  of  the 
church  that  these  people  resented  with  an 
outburst  of  violent  emotion  at  home.  Feel- 
ings were  hurt,  there  was  much  sulking,  and  the 
free  criticisms  uttered  lifted  the  church  and 
church  people  into  a  frankly  unfavorable  light. 
Such  an  episode  in  a  home  in  the  presence 
of  non-Christian  members  of  the  family  will 
stifle  a  thousand  jprayers,  counteract  a  thousand 
appeals,  silence  a  thousand  words  of  personal 
entreaty.  When  such  things  happen,  and  when 
the  prospect  knows  in  advance  that  it  is  likely 
to  happen,  then  what  should  be  the  supreme 
evangelistic  opportunity  has  been  squandered. 

If  all  the  families  now  represented  in  the 
68 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  OPPORTUNITY 

membership  of  the  church  could  be  won  in 
entirety  to  Christ,  the  church  rolls  would  be 
substantially  increased.  If  all  business,  social, 
fraternal,  and  domestic  associations  were  made 
the  thoroughfares  of  evangehstic  appeal,  the 
advances  in  Christian  declaration  and  enroll- 
ment would  be  notable  and  far-reaching. 

But  the  church's  evangelistic  opportunity  is 
more  urgent  still;  it  has  the  moral  quality  of 
obligation.  It  becomes  charged  with  the  spir- 
itual magnetism  of  high  responsibility.  When 
opportunity  is  but  the  pleasure  of  choice,  it  is 
on  one  plane;  but  when  opportunity  becomes 
the  pressure  of  obligation,  it  rises  by  the  hy- 
draulic of  moral  demand  to  heights  supreme. 

One  summer,  at  an  Epworth  League  institute 
at  Lake  Geneva,  Wisconsin,  there  was  great 
excitement.  On  a  certain  afternoon  of  the 
week,  an  excursion  was  planned  which  would 
include  the  members  of  the  institute  on  a 
pleasure  trip  around  the  lake.  The  steamer 
which  had  been  chartered  for  the  trip  was 
just  making  the  pier  when  what  seemed  to  be 
a  terrible  accident  happened.  The  pier  was 
crowded  with  the  eagerness  of  youth  bent  on 
pleasure,  and  the  crowd  began  to  push  forward 
ready  to  take  the  boat.     Built  "L"  shaped, 

69 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

that  part  of  the  pier  that  connected  with  the 
shore  broke  away  and  went  into  the  water, 
carrying  down  nearly  one  hundred  people. 
Panic  was  but  momentary — then  a  united  effort 
to  save  each  endangered  life. 

In  the  struggling  mass  in  tne  water  were 
old  men,  a  baby,  girls  who  were  unable  to 
swim,  and  frightened  women.  Opportunity 
assumed  the  aspect  of  obligation.  All  who 
could  were  under  imperative  duty  to  use  their 
utmost  powers  of  rescue.  This  was  done  with 
such  dispatch  that  not  a  single  life  was  lost. 

The  same  principle  operates  in  the  spiritual 
realm  and  in  evangelistic  rescue.  We  owe  it  to 
the  struggUng  ones  in  the  engulfing  waters  of 
sin's  terrible  despair  to  throw  them  the  life  line, 
to  man  the  lifeboat,  to  reach  them  with  the 
life  preserver.  Whatever  Christ  is  to  us  that 
we  owe  to  every  accessible  one  who  knows  not 
this  soul-satisfying  truth.  If  a  physician  makes 
a  discovery  that  will  heal  disease  and  save  life, 
the  ethics  of  his  profession  require  him  to  im- 
part his  secret  to  those  whom  it  might  help 
and  save.  If  a  Christian  makes  a  discovery 
concerning  the  Christian  life  and  its  saving 
values,  the  ethics  of  his  profession  require  him 
to  pass  the  redeeming  truth  on  to  others.    Once 

70 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  OPPORTUNITY 

the  church  awakens  to  its  real  obHgation  in  the 
field  of  evangelism,  then  opportunity  will  leap 
to  dimensions  that  are  truly  startling.  After 
two  years  of  successful  evangelistic  efforts  in 
the  "Cathedral  Church,"  there  were  those  who 
wondered  where  we  would  find  the  people  for 
further  triumphs.  They  were  in  the  ranks  of 
the  constituents,  the  very  people  to  whom  the 
church  was  bound  by  the  ties  of  association, 
the  very  people  to  whom  the  church  owed  the 
evangelistic  message,  the  very  people  who  fur- 
nished it  with  its  real  evangelistic  opportunity. 
During  this  year  the  emphasis  was  placed 
upon  personal  evangelism  to  a  degree  even 
greater  than  before.  Special  stress  was  laid 
upon  the  enlistment  of  the  rank  and  file  of  our 
membership  in  this  work.  During  the  summer 
a  complete  constituency  list  of  the  church  was 
compiled,  showing  that  in  the  Sunday  school, 
congregation,  in  the  various  church  organiza- 
tions and  families,  there  were  more  than  eight 
hundred  non-Christian  people,  not  members  of 
any  church,  who  looked  to  this  church  for  what- 
ever spiritual  ministration  or  pastoral  service 
they  received.  Here  were  found  the  husbands 
of  wives  who  were  members,  and  in  several 

instances,  the  wives  of  husbands;  the  children 

71 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

of  the  church  families  and  of  the  Sunday  school 
but  not  members  of  the  church;  parents  of 
children  in  the  Sunday  school  and  church, 
attendants  of  the  congregational  services,  and 
all  others  who  had  received  from  the  church 
and  its  minister  such  services  as  marriage  or 
baptism  or  had  called  the  pastor  in  hours  of 
sickness,  death,  or  other  distress  in  the  family. 

This  hst  was  typewritten  with  both  names 
and  street  addresses.  It  was  then  transferred 
to  cards — one  name  with  the  address  to  each 
card.  The  official  action  of  the  church  made 
that  year's  campaign  a  Layman's  Evangelistic 
campaign,  with  personal  work  in  the  prominent 
position.  Well  in  advance  of  the  nightly  meet- 
ings in  the  church  a  plan  of  careful  cultivation 
of  this  constituency  was  adopted  and  pursued. 

The  young  people  worked  separately,  met  in 
a  class  conducted  by  the  pastor  on  personal 
evangelism,  and  went  out  after  their  young 
friends  for  Christ.  The  Sunday  School  Board 
entered  heartily  into  the  plans,  and  each 
teacher  above  the  Primary  Department  was 
given  a  list  of  his  or  her  scholars  who  were  not 
Christians.  These  they  were  urged  to  see  at 
once  on  "business  for  the  King."  The  other 
names  were  taken  by  other  workers.     Once  a 

72 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  OPPORTUNITY 

week,  at  a  special  meeting  for  that  purpose, 
these  workers  made  their  reports.  They  had 
been  given  cards  to  use  with  the  prospects 
bearing  the  following  triple  pledge: 

I  will  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  my  personal  Saviour. 
I  will  publicly  acknowledge  him  as  such. 
I  will  join  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Memorial  Church 
on  or  before  Sunday,  December  6th,  1914. 
(Date  for  the  ending  of  the  campaign) 
Name Address 

Returns  began  coming  in  with  cards  signed 
at  the  very  first  meeting  for  the  workers'  re- 
ports. Special  attention  should  be  directed  to 
an  item  of  our  constituency  list  which  brought 
some  real  surprises. 

Several  years  ago  the  Cradle  Roll  in  the 
Sunday  school  was  given  to  an  energetic  woman, 
with  the  suggestion  that  there  was  a  chance 
to  make  a  record.  There  were  fewer  than 
forty  names  on  the  roll  of  babies  under  three 
years  of  age.  She  started  out  to  do  something 
conspicuous  with  that  Cradle  Roll  and  she 
did  it.  The  enrollment  is  kept  well  above  the 
four  hundred  mark,  despite  the  constant  drain 
from  the  Beginners'  Department.  Some  time 
ago  the  pastor  said  to  her,  "Suppose  we  have 
a  Cradle  Roll  Day  at  church,"  and  she  was 

73 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

delighted.  Plans  were  made  accordingly,  and 
in  the  autumn  a  regular  Sunday  morning  ser- 
vice was  given  over  to  the  babies  of  the  Cradle 
Roll  and  their  parents.  That  was  not  all.  It 
was  suggested  that  the  superintendent  make  a 
list  of  all  the  parents  of  these  babies  who  were 
not  Christians  or  members  of  the  church.  The 
surprising  fact  was  discovered  that  more  than 
half  of  them  were  in  that  list — over  four  hun- 
dred parents  of  babies  on  the  Cradle  Roll  not 
Christians  or  members  of  the  church!  That 
list  was  divided  into  thirds:  one  for  herself,  one 
for  the  parish  visitor,  and  one  for  the  pastor. 
Then,  so  far  as  possible,  the  afternoons  and 
evenings  of  that  week  were  spent  in  calling  on 
these  people  and  making  the  evangelistic  appeal 
through  their  children.  On  the  first  afternoon, 
when  the  pastor  was  ringing  the  doorbell  at 
his  seventeenth  home,  it  occurred  to  him  that 
not  a  mother  had  been  away  from  home  that 
day,  and  when,  in  the  early  evening  hours,  he 
went  after  the  fathers,  in  nearly  every  case 
they  were  at  home.  There  is  not  a  piece  of 
more  available  or  accessible  constituency  than 
parents  of  tots  under  three  on  the  Cradle  Roll. 
In  all  those  appeals,  moreover,  there  was  not 
a  rebuff.    Not  that  all  accepted  Christ,  but  it 

74 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  OPPORTUNITY 

became  clear  that  when  the  evangelistic  plea  is 
made  through  the  babe,  there  is  no  rejoinder. 

On  that  Cradle  Roll  Day  parents  were  bap- 
tized, with  their  children,  while  then  and  later 
many  of  them  were  led  into  Christian  faith 
and  service. 

On  an  appropriate  Sunday  a  social  and 
religious  canvass  was  made  of  the  entire  mem- 
bership urging  evangelistic  cooperation. 

"Win-My-Chum"  week  was  incorporated  in 
the  plan,  and  the  personal  work  was  continued 
in  fruitful  fashion.  Meetings  for  prayer  were 
held  in  the  homes  and  there  were  several 
conversions. 

Then  for  three  weeks  nightly  meetings  were 
conducted  in  the  church  auditorium  with  the 
campaign  intensifying  in  toil,  in  interest,  and 
in  results.  Special  organizations  "promoted" 
each  service,  various  forms  of  publicity  were 
used,  and  we  came  to  the  last  day  of  the  cam- 
paign with  the  note  of  triumph  ringing  out 
clear  and  strong. 

In  the  Sunday  school  there  were  more  than 
thirty  decisions  for  Christ;  at  a  men's  meeting 
in  the  afternoon  there  was  intense  conviction 
but  no  surrender.  Then  came  the  evening 
service.     The  pastor  felt  confident  of  victory, 

75 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

yet  after  preaching  and  making  the  appeal,  and 
after  singing  two  invitational  hymns,  there  was 
no  response  and  but  one  or  two  personal  workers 
stirring  in  the  congregation.  The  preacher  was 
desperate.  It  seemed  to  him  that  to  close  the 
meeting  then  would  break  his  heart.  Many 
were  at  decision's  gateway.  One  man  who 
promised  he  would  yield  that  night  stood 
hesitating.  The  last  stanza  of  the  second  invi- 
tational hymn  had  been  sung.  All  were  fight- 
ing against  heavy  odds  for  victory.  The 
preacher  left  the  pulpit,  "not  knowing  whither 
he  went."  After  descending  the  pulpit  stairs, 
he  turned  and  walked  across  the  front  of  the 
church,  down  the  side  aisle  to  about  the  fourth 
pew,  where  in  the  very  end,  stood  the  man  who 
had  promised.  He  stopped.  The  man's  hand 
rested  upon  the  end  of  the  pew.  The  pastor's 
hand  rested  on  his,  and,  addressing  himseK  to 
the  people  in  that  section,  he  poured  out  his 
heart  in  an  agony  of  passion  for  them  to  yield. 
The  words  were  general;  the  message  direct 
to  this  man.  Then  he  went  around  into  another 
aisle  where  he  saw  a  man  with  whom  he  had 
talked  and  prayed  and  pleaded  in  his  home. 
He  was  almost  persuaded.  The  minister  ap- 
pealed to  him  for  instant  surrender,  though 

76 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  OPPORTUNITY 

the  appeal  was  couched  in  terms  sufficiently 
general  for  others.  In  another  aisle,  he  did  the 
same;  then  returned  to  the  pulpit.  He  asked 
the  choir  to  sing  one  stanza  of  "Just  as  I  am." 
He  urged  the  workers  to  give  the  word  of  loving 
invitation  and  announced  that  if  no  one  came 
during  that  first  verse  he  would  close  the 
meeting.  The  man  who  had  promised  came  on 
the  run,  followed  by  his  wife.  The  obstinate 
man,  almost  persuaded,  said  "Yes"  to  a  friend 
who  invited  him.  The  entire  audience  melted. 
From  every  part  of  the  building  they  came,  men, 
women,  children,  and  young  people,  until  the 
altar  was  crowded.  That  notable  victory 
crowned  the  campaign  with  a  total  of  more 
than  one  hundred  converts. 

Opportunity  brings  responsibility,  but  its 
discharge  brings  success.  When  option  issues 
in  action,  then  action  registers  in  consumma- 
tion. The  church  that  bravely  enters  the  lists 
of  evangelistic  conquest  will  soon  shake  out 
the  radiant  banners  of  victory. 


77 


THE  CHURCH'S  EVANGELISTIC 
CLIMATE 

In  Matthew's  statement  of  Jesus 's  return 
to  Nazareth  we  have  this  melancholy  summary 
of  the  fact:  "And  he  did  not  many  mighty 
works  there  because  of  their  unbelief."  After 
a  brief  absence  from  home,  during  which  the 
public  ministry  had  begun,  Jesus  returned  to 
Nazareth  and,  at  the  Sabbath  service  in  the 
synagogue,  pronounced  himself  the  fulfillment 
of  Isaiah's  familiar  prophecies.  But  the  mes- 
sage struck  no  responsive  chord,  the  announce- 
ment was  met  with  the  determined  and  hostile 
opposition  of  jealous  and  skeptical  rage.  So 
that  in  Nazareth,  where  he  had  spent  the  days 
of  his  childhood,  and  from  whose  silences  he 
had  gone  forth  to  his  public  ministry,  in  Naz- 
areth he  could  not  do  mighty  spiritual  works 
because  of  unbelief. 

Moreover,  the  fact  of  embarrassing  and  re- 
tarding influences  against  the  Saviour's  work 
is  proclaimed  with  more  or  less  directness  in 

the  Gospels  again  and  again.     So  that  such 

78 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CLIIVIATE 

observations  and  conclusions  may  be  reduced 
to  this  simple  statement  of  fact,  namely,  that 
surrounding  conditions  had  a  real  influence  upon 
the  spiritual  and  evangelistic  successes  of  Christ 
himself.  And  if  he  needed  sympathetic  and 
cooperative  belief  as  the  warm  and  wholesome 
climate  in  which  to  work  his  plans  of  redemp- 
tion, then  such  conditions  are  of  vast  and  vital 
importance  in  our  evangelistic  activity. 

What  are  These  Climatic  Essentials? 

First,  an  atmosphere  of  spiritual  certainty 
is  a  prime  requisite  for  successful  evangelism. 
Theories,  whatever  their  value  elsewhere,  are 
of  little  or  no  consequence  in  this  grip  with 
spiritual  realities  involved  in  pointing  a  soul 
to  the  path  of  love  and  light.  With  full  con- 
cession to  all  intellectual  and  professional  train- 
ing, yet  the  personal  worker  simply  invites  de- 
feat if  he  goes  to  his  work  with  the  uncertain 
dependence  upon  hearsay  or  upon  theory.  The 
personal  and  conscious  knowledge  that  Christ  is 
the  worker's  own  Saviour,  and  the  calm  cer- 
tainty that  the  real  dynamic  of  the  effort  is  not 
plan  nor  method  nor  word  but  the  Spirit  of  God, 
are  indispensable  to  the  personal  evangelist. 

It  is  such  an  atmosphere  that  "Billy"  Sunday 
79 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

carries  with  him  and  which  quickly  becomes  a 
contagion  wherever  he  goes.  Some  are  offended 
because  he  takes  into  his  preaching  the  Hugo 
of  the  street  and  the  ball-field,  but  he  is  succeed- 
ing where  others  fail,  because  God  is  real  to 
him  and  the  dependence  upon  spiritual  power 
gives  him  the  confident  assurance  of  victory. 

"Gipsy"  Smith  seems  to  fairly  radiate  this 
same  atmosphere  of  spiritual  certainty.  When 
he  came  from  his  gypsy  tent  into  the  pulpit 
with  the  wild  freedom  of  the  English  moors  and 
the  love  of  nature  that  was  a  passion,  he  came 
with  something  more  fresh  and  more  beautiful 
still:  it  was  his  first-hand  knowledge  of  divine 
reality,  and  it  is  this  reality  that  he  is  able 
to  imprint  upon  the  hearts  of  his  Hsteners 
and  which  lifts  them  into  the  very  presence  of 
God. 

This  was,  likewise,  the  secret  of  the  wonder- 
ful power  of  Moody.  He  went  directly  into 
London  pulpits  where  form  and  dignified  ritual 
and  scholarly  discourse  had  held  sway  for  a 
century  with  negligible  results,  and  in  uncouth 
speech  and  with  awkward  manner  and  with 
colloquial  phrase  gave  a  thrilling  personal  testi- 
mony, interpreted  Scripture  in  terms  of  expe- 
rience, charged  the  whole  religious  atmosphere 

80 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CLIMATE 

with  the  electricity  of  spiritual  certainty — and 
his  notable  successes  are  an  open  book. 

In  a  certain  revival  campaign  which  was 
conducted  several  years  ago  there  was  this 
most  unusual  and  interesting  experience:  A 
woman  who  was  a  stranger  in  the  community 
save  to  the  sister-in-law  whom  she  was  visiting, 
came  into  the  service  on  an  evening  when 
several  girls  had  accepted  the  invitation  to 
acknowledge  Christ  and  were  bowing  at  the 
altar.  During  the  altar  service  the  minister 
stepped  back  to  speak  to  her,  inquiring  regard- 
ing her  attitude  toward  religion.  She  rephed: 
"I  pity  those  girls  yonder,  for  there  is  nothing 
to  religion.  They  are  making  a  spectacle  of 
themselves  and  will  live  to  rue  this  act."  Her 
words  were  so  vitriolic  and  her  demeanor  was 
so  curt  that  the  preacher  was  stunned,  so, 
without  another  word,  he  went  back  to  the 
pulpit.  She  attended  with  her  sister-in-law  the 
services,  however,  and  while  many  observed  her 
increasing  interest  in  what  was  transpiring,  no 
further  words  were  had  with  her  on  the  sub- 
ject of  religion. 

One  evening,  in  answer  to  the  public  appeal, 

without  her  relative's  knowledge,  and  with  no 

special  solicitation,  this  woman  came  to  the 

81 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

altar.  She  did  not  want  anyone  to  speak  to 
her;  she  asked  that  audible  prayer  and  singing 
be  stopped,  for  she  wanted  perfect  quiet.  After 
what  seemed  an  interminable  silence  she  arose 
from  the  altar  with  a  smile  on  her  face  and  a 
new  light  in  her  eye.  She  returned  to  her  seat 
and  the  congregation  was  dismissed  without  a 
word  with  her. 

The  next  Sunday  morning  she  asked  for 
permission  to  recite  her  experience.  She  said 
that  as  she  bowed  at  the  altar  the  front  of  the 
organ  seemed  to  be  illumined  with  a  strange 
light,  and  then  there  appeared  a  wonderful  mo- 
saic, and  out  of  it  came  the  benignant  face  of 
Christ,  whom  she  recognized  as  her  Saviour. 
She  was  then  received  into  the  church,  and 
somewhat  later  she  went  to  her  distant  home  a 
changed  wonian. 

It  is  gratuitous  to  say  that  her  testimony 
exerted  a  tremendous  influence,  and  not  only 
at  the  time;  it  has  continued  through  the  years, 
as  that  pastor  has  frequent  opportunity  to 
know.  Its  power  was  in  the  reality  of  the 
experience  and  in  the  calm  and  quiet  certainty 
that  just  such  miracles  as  had  been  wrought  in 
her  life  might  register  in  the  lives  of  others  also. 

Again,  an  atmosphere  of  personal  gracious- 

82 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CLIMATE 

ness  must  surround  the  evangelistic  worker. 
Tendencies  of  disposition  which  would  discredit 
the  message  or  repel  the  prospect  are  so  serious 
as  to  require  the  drastic  action  of  spiritual 
surgery.  Pettiness,  sourness,  crankiness,  fault- 
finding, carping  criticism — such  propensities, 
which  may  seem  to  be  mere  individual  ex- 
crescences and  to  have  no  moral  content,  really 
create  a  climate  so  trying  to  moral  health  and 
successful  evangelistic  labors  as  to  merit  serious 
thought  and  plans  of  speedy  elimination. 

A  certain  man  really  tried  to  be  a  Christian 
and  made  plenty  of  profession.  He  was  a 
class  leader  in  the  church  and  the  teacher  of 
a  class  of  boys  in  the  Sunday  school.  His 
usefulness  was  seriously  impaired  and  his  re- 
ligious experience  distressingly  hampered  by 
most  unfortunate  tendencies  of  disposition.  He 
was  a  chronic  complainer,  and  there  was 
nothing  concerning  the  church  or  minister  or 
members  but  that  he  could  and  did  find  some 
fault.  There  was  just  one  person  who  escaped 
the  thrust  of  his  sharp  and  critical  tongue  (not 
his  wife),  and  that  was  a  shoe  cobbler  who  was 
also  a  class  leader  in  the  church  and  was  just 
as  unquenchable  a  whiner  as  he.  These  two 
men  considered  it  their  religious  duty  to  meet 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

in  the  cobbler's  shop,  and  when  he  would  get 
out  his  hammer  for  the  shoes  both  of  them 
got  out  their  hammers  for  the  church  and  be- 
gan on  everybody  and  everything. 

One  Sunday  morning,  when  the  Sunday 
school  superintendent  administered  a  public  and 
well-deserved  reproof  to  his  class,  this  teacher 
arose,  livid  with  rage,  and  gave  a  sharp  answer 
to  the  superintendent,  resigning  at  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Sunday  School  Board.  The 
scant  success  which  attended  his  labors  to  win 
those  boys  to  Christ  was  as  certain  as  the  day. 

In  that  illuminating  message  of  John  in  the 
first  chapter  of  his  Gospel,  in  which  he  holds 
up  to  view  the  incarnate  Christ,  he  declares 
that  when  the  race  beheld  his  glory,  it  was 
"full  of  grace  and  truth."  Does  the  sequence 
here  have  a  significant  emphasis.'^  What  if 
it  does.^  What  if  it  was  a  necessary  order  of 
Messianic  revelation  that  Christ  should  reveal 
the  graciousness  of  his  manner  before  he  re- 
vealed the  truth  of  his  message?  When  he  did 
begin  his  public  work,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
he  appeared  more  anxious  to  win  friends  to 
his  cause  by  his  friendliness  than  to  proclaim 
the  vibrant  truth  of  his  mission.  Without  doubt 
Jesus  understood  what  all  evangelistic  workers 

84  - 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CLIMATE 

must  come  to  learn,  that  if  we  would  be  winning 
people  to  the  Christian  life,  we  must  be  win- 
some people  ourselves. 

No  church  can  successfully  prosecute  evan- 
gehsm  in  an  atmosphere  of  misunderstanding 
among  the  workers.  Fuss  and  feud  among  the 
members  will  counteract  the  evangelistic  efforts 
of  any  pastor  and  his  helpers.  Three  gripping 
reasons  make  such  labor  abortive.  The  first 
is  that  the  Holy  Spirit  cannot  use  such  a  church 
in  the  plans  for  world  redemption.  The  out- 
pouring of  spiritual  influences  upon  discordant 
persons  in  the  same  household  of  faith,  or  in 
different  households  of  faith,  is  as  unthinkable 
as  the  effort  to  drive  two  horses  at  once  when 
they  insist  on  going  in  opposite  directions. 
The  second  reason  is  that  strife  and  contention 
in  a  church  spoil  the  spiritual  conditions  in  the 
lives  of  the  workers  themselves,  so  that  energies 
of  spiritual  effort  that  are  required  for  evan- 
gelism are  stunted  and  dulled  and  distorted 
to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  effective  evan- 
gelism impossible.  And  the  third  reason  is 
that  thinking  people  who  desire  a  spiritual 
haven  in  the  church  will  not  be  attracted  to  a 
company  of  alleged  Christians  that  is  torn 
with  constant  dissension  and  strife. 
85 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

If  the  church  would  be  its  own  evangelist, 
let  it  begin  with  its  officials  and  members.  Let 
it  cleanse  the  inside  of  the  platter  first,  let  it 
pluck  the  beam  from  its  own  eye  first,  let  it 
bathe  its  own  troubled  soul  with  the  warm 
waters  of  salvation  before  striding  forth  on  the 
highways  of  the  world  to  save  others. 

Neither  can  a  church  hope  to  win  triumphs 
in  evangelism  whose  members  do  not  square 
their  lives  with  the  demands  of  moral  integrity. 
The  residents  of  any  community  must  believe 
implicitly  in  the  Christians  who  display  an  in- 
terest in  their  spiritual  welfare.  Otherwise  the 
appeals  of  evangelism  will  seem  like  "sounding 
brass  and  a  clanging  cymbal." 

In  a  certain  manufacturing  city  were  two 
men  who  were  professing  Christians  and  mem- 
bers of  a  certain  evangehcal  church.  About 
equally  prominent  in  the  church  and  com- 
munity, both  were  manufacturers,  both  had 
fine  families  and  beautiful  homes.  One  of 
these  men,  however,  was  unable  to  get  those 
around  him  to  follow  him  into  the  church.  His 
children  joined  when  very  young,  but  soon 
wandered  away.  His  workmen  ridiculed  the 
kind  of  religion  that  their  employer  had.  Those 
who  knew  him  best  had  least  confidence  in  his 

86 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CLIMATE 

integrity  and  least  respect  for  his  religion. 
Not  long  ago  this  man  died,  leaving  a  desolate 
home,  a  broken-hearted  widow,  and  the  re- 
proachful memory  of  a  false  life  and  a  dubious 
profession. 

The  other  case  was  different.  This  man  bore 
a  name  that  was  synonymous  with  integrity. 
His  family  loved  him,  his  employees  honored 
him,  the  entire  community  respected  him.  His 
two  daughters  married  excellent  young  men 
who  are  taking  their  places  in  the  church.  The 
men  of  his  factory  who  have  been  led  to  Christ 
by  that  employer  are  many,  and  now  that  he 
is  gone  his  name  is  a  fragrant  memory  and  his 
life  a  benediction.  Whenever  an  evangelistic 
effort  is  compelled  to  feel  the  oppressive  damp 
of  uncertain  moral  living  on  the  part  of  the 
church  members,  it  is  sure  to  be  suffocated  with 
little  or  no  spiritual  success. 

Once  more,  a  wholesome  social  atmosphere 
in  a  church  is  an  essential  to  victorious  evan- 
gehsm.  Any  attempt  to  interject  a  discussion 
of  the  amusement  question  into  such  a  treatise 
on  evangelism  would  be  gratuitous  and  would 
defeat  its  own  purpose.  Nevertheless,  the  prob- 
lem of  the  social  atmosphere  is  so  involved  in 
successful  evangeUsm  that  it  voices  its   own 

87 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

message.  If  there  were  no  debatable  paragraph 
in  any  book  of  church  discipline,  if  there  were 
no  amusement  prohibitions  in  the  program  of 
any  church,  it  would  still  be  true  that  any 
social  fellowship  that  causes  the  life  to  sag, 
that  any  social  custom  that  brings  physical 
strain  beyond  wisdom,  that  any  social  inter- 
course that  results  in  mental  vacuity,  or  the 
lowering  of  the  standards  of  moral  equity,  or 
the  dulling  of  the  sense  of  fine  chivalry  must 
find  classification  as  "taboo"  for  the  person 
who  desires  to  keep  alive  the  spiritual  impulses 
and  continue  to  be  of  service  as  a  winner  of  souls. 
The  earnest  Christian,  anxious  to  function 
his  life  in  the  direction  of  personal  evangelism, 
will  settle  his  relation  to  questions  of  recreation 
on  the  basis  of  spiritual  and  moral  atmosphere 
rather  than  on  the  basis  of  church  leniency  or 
prohibition.  The  question  is  not  always  one 
of  absolute  right  and  wrong,  but  often  becomes 
a  problem  of  tendency  of  sensitiveness  of  ethical 
and  spiritual  efficiency.  It  is  dangerous  for 
the  Christian  to  linger  in  any  marginal  terri- 
tory or  rest  on  any  debatable  ground.  "What 
is  subject  to  debate  is  not  subject  to  indul- 
gence," declares  Robert  Speer  in  an  epigram 
as  true  as  it  is  incisive. 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CLIMATE 

When  the  individual  Christian  and  the  body 
of  church  workers  and  the  group  of  evangehstic 
laborers  come  to  adjust  the  question  of  the 
recreational  and  amusement  life  on  the  basis 
of  wholesome  and  invigorating  atmosphere,  then 
no  paragraph  will  stand  in  the  way  of  the 
proper  choice  and  no  church  prohibition  will 
hamper  their  largest  freedom. 

There  was  a  time  when  gigantic  animals 
stalked  through  the  marshes  of  these  North 
American  wilds.  From  the  rocks  their  fossil 
remains  are  now  being  chiseled,  and  with  in- 
finite scientific  pains  their  skeletons  are  being 
restored.  So  huge  they  were  as  to  be  almost 
beyond  belief.  Compared  to  them  the  elephant 
of  the  present  day  is  but  a  pigmy.  Feeding 
out  of  the  tops  of  trees,  and  uttering  such  cries 
as  must  have  rent  the  air  for  miles,  what  spec- 
tacles these  animals  certainly  were! 

What  killed  this  race  of  mammal  giants? 
Did  lurking  enemies  shoot  them  down.?  Did 
animals  still  stronger  than  they  overcome  them 
in  mortal  combat?  Did  prehistoric  man  slay 
them  to  extermination?  Though  no  historian 
wrote  down  their  history,  what  happened  was 
just  this:  the  climate  changed.  Into  that  tropic 
warmth  came  the  icy  winds  from  the  north. 
89 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

Over  the  swamps  there  came  crushing  their 
slow  but  certain  way  the  mighty  glaciers  bear- 
ing even  mountains  of  stone  and  dirt  and  ice 
and  snow.  Chilled  into  numbness,  these  great 
animals  were  crushed  and  buried  beneath  this 
icy  avalanche.  And  when  the  ice  had  melted 
and  the  glaciers  had  receded,  the  story  of  the 
tragedy  was  written  by  God's  finger  in  the 
rocks. 

If  climate  killed  the  mightiest  ^race  of  animals 
that  ever  trod  these  shores,  then  we  may  well 
give  pause  to  any  habit  or  bearing  or  disposition 
or  indulgence  which  will  dull  or  chill  or  weaken 
the  vitality  of  the  spiritual  life.  For  if  our 
Lord  himself  must  keep  himself  fit,  and  if 
spiritual  atmosphere  had  a  bearing  on  the  suc- 
cess of  his  labors,  so  much  the  more  should  we 
take  heed  to  ourselves  and  to  the  Church  of 
God  if  we  expect  to  enter  into  his  program  of 
redemption  through  evangelism. 


90 


VI 

THE  CHURCH'S  EVANGELISTIC  CROSS 

Two  fallacies  regarding  evangelism  are  cur- 
rent among  the  churches  and  they  are  as 
deadly  as  they  are  current.  The  first  fallacy 
is  that  evangelism  as  a  church  program  is  so 
difficult  that  the  average  church  cannot  operate 
it  successfully.  Staggered  by  the  magnitude  of 
the  task,  many  ministers  and  congregations  do 
not  undertake  it  through  fear.  The  second 
fallacy  is  that  evangelism  may  become  so  easy 
that  the  plan  can  be  operated  without  difficulty 
and  without  special  concern  on  the  part  of  the 
church.  Deluded  by  the  ease  of  the  task,  many 
Christian  workers  fail  through  complacency. 

It  has  been  the  consistent  aim  of  this  volume 
to  prove  by  demonstration  that  the  evangelistic 
task  is  not  too  great  for  the  average  church 
and  minister,  and  to  sound  the  solemn  note 
that  if  a  church  fails  here,  its  failure  is  dire 
and  utter. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  evan- 
gelism is  no  rocking-chair  ajffair;  it  is  no  holi- 
day engagement;  it  is  no  dress-parade  maneuver. 

91 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

It  is  toil,  it  is  struggle,  it  is  bloody  sweat,  it  is 
intercession,  it  is  soul-passion,  it  is  heart  an- 
guish. Jowett  was  right  when  he  said:  "When 
we  cease  to  bleed  we  cease  to  bless.  The  gospel 
of  a  broken  heart  demands  the  ministry  of 
bleeding  hearts." 

Evangelism  is  not  easy,  no  odds  what  the 
plan  or  method.  WThether  it  is  evangelistic 
preaching,  or  the  conduct  of  public  revival 
services;  whether  it  is  intercessory  prayer  for 
the  unsaved  or  the  personal  grip  of  the  private 
interview  and  invitation  to  Christ,  no  one  can 
engage  in  it  without  knowing  that  virtue  has 
gone  out  of  him.  The  price  of  successful  evan- 
gelism is  high,  but  the  values  are  eternal.  Mr. 
H.  Clay  Trumbull,  for  many  years  editor  of 
the  Sunday  School  Times,  was  one  of  the  most 
successful  personal  evangelists  of  his  day.  He 
did  the  work  so  continuously  and  with  such 
apparent  ease  that  it  has  been  commonly  sup- 
posed that  it  became  "second  nature"  to  him. 
His  own  testimony,  however,  is  quite  contrary 
to  that  understanding. 

Many  were  the  times,  he  admits,  when  it 
seemed  that  the  circumstances  were  not  favor- 
able to  a  word  for  Christ,  and  often  he  was 
on  the  verge  of  defeat  because  of  the  constant 

92 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CROSS 

temptation  to  pass  by  an  evident  opportunity 
to  press  home  the  gospel  message  upon  a  chance 
acquaintance,  and  was  saved  from  failure  only 
by  earnest  even  if  silent  prayer.  Whenever  one 
can  breeze  into  the  presence  of  a  person  who  is 
a  prospect  for  Christian  consecration,  and  in 
a  light  vein  and  nonchalant  manner  approach 
the  most  vital  of  all  subjects,  it  is  easy  to  pre- 
dict that  no  permanent  deposit  for  righteousness 
will  be  made. 

If  soul  passion  is  an  essential  to  successful 
evangelism,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  for 
the  church  to  know  that  soul  passion  is  just 
what  the  phrase  expresses.  It  is  a  suffering 
of  soul  for  the  unsaved,  a  sorrow  for  the  tragedy 
of  the  lost,  a  real  travail  of  spirit  for  the  sinning. 

At  the  height  of  his  popularity  Jesus  fed  the 
five  thousand  by  the  lakeside  while  "Galilee's 
sun  was  westering  and  Galilee's  waves  were 
whispering  on  the  strand."  At  once  the  enthusi- 
asm of  the  people  voiced  itself  in  the  clamor  to 
make  him  King.  Seizing  this  popular  fallacy 
with  the  grip  of  his  imperial  authority,  he  dis- 
persed the  crowds  before  their  riot  of  mob 
madness  could  bring  all  to  destruction.  More- 
over, he  sent  the  disciples  out  onto  the  lake, 
where  in  toilsome  rowing  and  in  the  fright  of 

93 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

the  night's  storm,  they  might  forget  their  mad- 
dening dream  of  temporal  power. 

When,  on  the  next  day,  the  crowds  came 
again  and  tried  to  force  the  crown  of  worldly 
Messiahship  upon  his  brow,  he  precipitated 
with  calm  and  deliberate  precision  the  crisis  of 
his  ministry.  Forthwith  he  tore  the  delusive 
vision  from  their  eyes;  he  blasted  with  hard  and 
pitiless  words  their  misguided  hopes;  he  told 
them  with  the  blunt  clearness  that  could  not 
be  dodged  that  his  kingdom  was  a  spiritual 
kingdom;  and  that  the  pathway  to  his  corona- 
tion was  the  red  highway  of  sacrifice  and  suffer- 
ing and  death  which  was  to  end  at  Calvary. 

He  held  up  the  cross  until  they  felt  its  horror. 
He  told  them  that  his  body  must  be  broken 
and  his  blood  shed  upon  it.  Then,  striding  on 
to  the  personal  application,  he  declared  that 
those  who  would  follow  him  must  eat  of  his 
body  and  drink  of  his  blood,  must  enter  sacri- 
ficially  into  the  very  spirit  of  redemption.  He 
pictured  for  them  a  career  of  hardship  and  of 
suffering  as  they  would  be  broken  and  scarred 
and  scorned  for  him. 

When  the  people  could  rally  from  the  blow, 

they  wailed,  "This  is  a  hard  saying,  who  can 

hear  it?"    On  the  instant  the  crowds  began  to 

94 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CROSS 

melt,  the  wild  clamor  toward  kingship  ceased, 
the  loud  applause  hushed  upon  their  lips,  and 
John  added  this  heart-breaking  word:  "Upon 
this  many  of  his  disciples  went  back,  and 
walked  no  more  with  him."  When  the  people 
caught  sight  of  the  cross  they  wavered  and  then 
went  back. 

There  is  really  no  ground  for  wonder  at  this 
proceeding,  for  true  Christian  consecration 
which  follows  Christ  in  the  way  of  evangelism 
leads  straight  to  a  cross,  and  when  it  comes  to 
that,  more's  the  pity,  so  many  go  back ! 

Kingsley  once  wrote:  "It  is  quite  honor 
enough  (and  I  suspect  before  we  get  done  we 
shall  find  it  work  enough)  to  get  one  soul  saved 
alive,  before  we  die.  There  can  be  no  real 
success  in  winning  souls  without  sacrifice."  The 
call  to  evangelism  is  no  call  to  an  easy,  dilettante 
sort  of  Christianity;  it  means  tired  feet  and 
aching  head,  and  often  a  weary  heart. 

The  evangelistic  worker,  whether  minister  or 
layman,  must  settle  with  himself  those  per- 
plexing and  persistent  questions  which  cluster 
around  self  and  self-interest.  A  primary  prin- 
ciple of  all  Christian  service  is  this:  "It  is  more 
blessed   to   give   than   to   receive";   and   that 

principle  found  its  most  glorious,  though  most 

95 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

tragic,  fruitage  on  the  cross  of  Calvary,  when  it 
was  said  of  the  dying  Christ:  "He  saved  others; 
himself  he  cannot  save." 

Efficient  evangelism  means  an  outlay  of  time 
that  might  be  spent  in  personal  and  pleasurable 
pursuits;  it  means  a  consumption  of  physical 
and  mental  and  nervous  energy  that  ends  in 
exhaustion;  it  means  fellowship  with  such  heroes 
as  Henry  Martyn,  who,  as  he  set  sail  for  India, 
cried  out,  "I  desire  to  burn  out  for  God!" 
That  is  the  discriminating  word,  after  all — 
"burning  out  for  God!" 

That  is  the  John  Baptist  standard  of  Chris- 
tian service,  for  Christ  described  him  as  a 
"burning  and  a  shining  light."  "As  the  oil 
wastes  the  flame  aspires."  You  cannot  illumine 
the  house  with  the  oil  and  still  retain  the  oil 
in  the  lamp;  you  cannot  invest  your  money  in 
property  and  still  keep  it  in  pocket;  you  cannot 
sow  your  seed  broadcast,  expecting  a  harvest, 
and  still  hoard  it  in  your  full  granary;  you  can- 
not spend  your  life  in  evangelistic  service  and 
still  save  it  for  yourself. 

An  Alpine  traveler  reminds  us  that  in  the 
Swiss  Alps  there  is  a  lower  shoulder  of  the  moun- 
tain called  the  Furren  Alp,  whose  rocky  head 
looks  down  into  the  beautiful  valley  of  Engle- 

96 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CROSS 

berg.  One's  guidebook  tells  him  that  in  cross- 
ing this  rough  shoulder  he  will  come  to  a  place 
where  the  visible  track  will  cease.  Reaching 
the  spot,  the  traveler  finds  the  end  of  the  road 
just  as  described,  then  looks  about  in  uncer- 
tainty. Soon  he  is  likely  to  catch  sight  of  what 
seems  to  be  a  splash  of  blood  upon  a  rock,  and 
at  a  little  distance  another,  and  so  on,  each  one 
bringing  into  view  another  one  a  bit  further  on. 
Ere  long  it  dawns  upon  the  traveler  that  these 
are  his  guideposts;  that  by  the  red  road  of 
these  blood  marks  across  the  waste  he  is  to 
find  his  destination. 

The  pathway  of  successful  evangelism  is  the 
red  highway  of  self-sacrifice,  self-abnegation, 
self-denial.  By  the  blood  marks  of  his  own 
soul-suffering  he  is  to  find  his  way  to  evan- 
gelistic triumph;  by  losing  his  own  life  the 
evangelistic  worker  is  to  find  it  in  the  lives  of 
others. 

An  additional  implication  of  successful  evan- 
gelism which  lifts  up  a  cross  for  the  church  or 
worker  and  which  causes  some  "to  go  back" 
is  the  outgo  of  personal  sympathy. 

When  the  prophet  Elijah  had  taken  the  dead 
son  of  the  Zarephath  widow  to  his  own  room, 
and  had  stretched  himself  upon  the  child,  with 

97 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

his  face  to  the  child's  face  and  his  heart  to  the 
child's  heart,  then  life  for  the  child  returned. 
Not  until  our  yearning  hearts  pulsate  with  a 
holy  love  for  the  unsaved,  not  until  we  come 
close  enough  to  the  wayward  to  hear  their 
heart-throb  and  feel  their  hot  breath  upon  our 
faces,  can  we  expect  to  lead  them  to  salvation. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  W.  J.  Dawson  tells  of  a  certain 
English  criminal  who  was  being  led  to  his 
execution  on  the  scaffold  and  was  being  offered 
by  the  prison  chaplain  what  are  known  as  the 
"consolations  of  religion."  The  wretched  man 
turned  fiercely  upon  the  chaplain  and  cried: 
**Do  you  really  believe  that?  If  you  believe 
that,  why  did  you  not  act  as  if  it  were  true, 
why  did  you  not  act  as  if  you  cared  .^  If  I  be- 
lieved that,  I  would  crawl  across  England  on 
broken  glass  to  tell  men  that  it  was  true." 
Though  the  world  may  sometimes  seem  cal- 
loused to  the  gospel  message,  yet  people  will 
flock  from  all  walks  of  life  and  all  sorts  of  sta- 
tions to  the  place  where  there  is  real  sympathy. 
If  the  church  really  cares,  it  will  count  no 
sacrifice  too  great  to  carry  the  evangelistic 
message  to  those  who  are  not  Christians;  but 
if  the  church  does  not  really  care,  it  is  not 
likely  to  go  very  far  with  the  story  of  a  Saviour. 

98 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CROSS 

One  night  the  pastor  noticed  a  man  in  the 
revival  service  who  had  taken  a  conspicuously 
hostile  attitude  toward  the  church.  His  wife 
was  a  member,  but  his  association  of  the  church 
with  industrial  leaders  in  the  community  led 
him  to  regard  it  as  his  enemy.  At  the  close 
of  the  service  the  preacher  made  a  particular 
point  to  see  him  and  have  an  earnest  word 
with  him.  "I  am  mighty  glad  to  see  you  here, 
for  you  have  a  lot  of  friends  in  this  church  who 
are  keenly  alive  to  your  interests  and  would 
like  to  see  you  a  Christian." 

"Is  that  so?"  he  queried.  "I  didn't  suppose 
that  anybody  here  cared  about  me." 

Not  many  nights  after  that  brief  interview 
that  man  bowed  in  humble  surrender  to  Jesus 
Christ. 

In  another  instance  a  man  in  the  com- 
munity was  so  bitter  against  the  church  that 
he  forbade  the  minister  to  come  to  his  home, 
and  when  he  did  go  on  one  occasion  to  call  on 
a  sick  member  of  the  family  who  was  a  parish- 
ioner, he  refused  to  let  the  preacher  offer  a 
prayer  for  his  own  sick  and  suffering  daughter. 
Later  misfortune  overtook  his  family,  the 
church  was  almoner  of  bounty,  the  church 
ministered  to  their  wants,  the  pastor  proved 

99 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

a  friend  in  need,  and  the  warm  devotion  of 
benevolence  and  kindness  thawed  his  cold 
heart  and  it  became  the  minister's  sweet  joy 
to  kneel  beside  that  man  as  he  made  his  con- 
secration to  Christ  and  to  receive  him  into  the 
church  which  he  had  so  bitterly  hated. 

When  the  church  shows  the  world  that  it 
actually  cares,  and  when  it  brings  its  tender, 
loving  heart  and  its  fragrant  sympathy  close  to 
the  crying  needs  of  the  people,  they  will  not 
refuse  its  love.  When  the  church  robs  its 
labors  of  the  professional  taint  and  puts  blood 
into  its  toil,  and  tears  into  its  invitations,  its 
work  in  evangelism  will  be  crowned  with  the 
finial  of  success. 

There  is  a  young  fellow  who  is  a  preacher's 
son  and  a  good  Christian.  Three  years  ago 
he  was  given  the  first-year  class  of  Junior 
boys  in  the  Sunday  school.  When  the  time 
arrived  for  the  Decision  Day  services  in  the 
Junior  Department,  in  response  to  the  evan- 
gelistic appeal  he  brought  his  entire  class  to 
Christ  and  into  the  church.  The  next  year 
he  did  the  same,  and  likewise  the  third  year. 
In  three  years  that  red-blooded,  athletic,  virile 
young  man  has  actually  led  into  the  Kingdom 

every  boy   who  stayed   under  his  instruction 
100 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CROSS 

long  enough  to  face  him  with  Christian  de- 
cision. 

With  a  new  class  each  year  composed  of 
boys  of  nine,  ten,  and  eleven,  the  truly  regal 
and  exceptional  quality  of  his  work  becomes 
evident.  How  does  this  fellow  do  this?  By 
getting  close  to  the  boys,  by  becoming  a  big 
brother  to  them,  by  entering  into  their  joys 
and  their  sorrows,  by  showing  them  that  he 
cares. 

Again,  there  is  certain  to  be  a  cross  for  the 
church  that  enters  fully  into  the  program  of 
evangelism  because  it  implies  comradeship  with 
Christ  in  the  redemptive  offices  of  his  ministry. 
The  church  that  puts  itself  into  sympathetic 
touch  with  the  sinful  and  the  tempted  and 
the  needy,  the  church  that  tries  to  help  the 
strugglmg  souls  around  it  to  a  life  of  spiritual 
victpry,  stands  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  Jesus 
Christ.  It  hears  his  tender  invitations,  his 
loving  calls,  his  gracious  messages.  It  sees  the 
anguish  of  the  divine  heart  over  the  sinful 
and  the  lost.  It  goes  with  him  to  lonely  moun- 
tain fastnesses  for  midnight  prayers.  It  com- 
panions with  him  even  unto  Gethsemane  with 
its  cup  of  wormwood  and  to  Calvary  with  its 
cross  of  shame.  In  a  privilege  so  rare  that 
101 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

angels  well  might  covet  it,  it  enters  into  the 
birth  pangs  of  Saviourhood. 

The  supreme  mission  of  the  church  is  to  be 
Saviour  to  its  community,  to  its  constituency, 
to  its  world.  The  supreme  joy  of  the  minister 
or  member  of  the  church  is  to  be  for  some  one 
a  Saviour. 

The  moving  process,  that  time  of  trial  and 
strain  for  the  preacher,  was  in  operation.  He 
discovered  that  the  drayman  who  was  carting 
the  goods  was  an  interesting,  good-hearted 
fellow,  but  loose  in  his  habits  and  far  off  from 
Christ.  He  became  aroused  to  a  battle  for 
the  man's  soul,  but  after  trying  several  plans 
had  no  apparent  success.  While  spending  a 
season  in  European  study  and  travel,  he  sent 
this  man  a  post  card  view  of  some  noted  scene 
and  wrote  him  a  sentence  full  of  passion  for 
his  spiritual  welfare.  He  was  captured.  He 
had  never  received  until  then  a  piece  of  foreign 
mail  in  all  his  life.  He  was  touched  at  the 
preacher's  interest,  even  if  he  was  so  far  away 
and  so  occupied  with  other  things.  Within  a 
month  of  his  return  from  abroad  he  had  the  priv- 
ilege of  seeing  that  man,  who  had  not  been  in 
church  in  years,  kneel  at  the  altar  in  a  Sunday 
evening  service  and  consecrate  himself  to  Christ. 

102 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CROSS 

After  leaving  that  church  as  pastor  that 
preacher  was  called  back  for  a  service,  and 
while  walking  along  the  principal  business  street 
of  the  town  this  drayman  spied  him,  left  his 
horse  and  wagon  standing  in  the  middle  of 
the  street  and  rushed  over  to  the  sidewalk, 
taking  the  parson  in  his  big  brawny  arms  as 
he  would  a  child.  One  is  not  accustomed  to 
embraces  of  that  kind  on  the  street,  and  it 
might  have  been  embarrassing  except  for  its 
meaning.  And  this  was  its  meaning;  somehow 
in  that  man's  mind  he  coupled  that  minister's 
name  with  the  name  of  Saviour.  To  be  called 
"Saviour"  is  life's  rarest  honor.  It  is  the 
supreme  word  possible  in  any  biography,  it  is 
the  highest  meed  of  praise  for  any  church. 

Yet  Saviourhood  involves  a  cross;  that  is 
the  reason  why  many  do  not  undertake  it,  or, 
having  begun,  turn  back  when  once  the  vi- 
carious elements  come  into  view.  But  those 
who  go  on  and  are  not  affrighted  and  are  not 
swerved  from  the  way  come  triumphantly  to 
the  Christian's  success  in  the  coronation  of 
evangelistic  victory;  but  that  is  the  theme  for 
our  next  and  final  chapter. 


103 


VII 

THE  CHURCH'S  EVANGELISTIC 
CROWN 

It  is  a  custom  among  certain  native  tribes  of 
Central  Africa  to  teach  their  youth  the  lessons 
of  prowess  and  bravery  in  a  school  of  heroism. 
When  the  boys  reach  the  age  to  become  real 
warriors  they  are  sent  out  into  a  place  of  sol- 
itude in  charge  of  the  boldest,  bravest,  fiercest 
leaders  of  the  tribe.  There  they  are  taught 
the  essential  lessons  of  a  warrior's  life  in  rough 
and  vigorous  fashion.  These  tribal  warriors 
hurl  spears  at  the  youth,  hack  him  with  knives 
and  subject  him  to  every  conceivable  torture. 
Now,  if  there  happens  to  be  in  that  group  of 
boys  a  son  of  the  chieftain,  he  is  subjected  to 
extraordinary  severities.  Their  naifve  concep- 
tion is  that  this  young  fellow  who  aspires  to 
be  called  "prince"  or  "chief"  must  be  proven 
worthy  of  the  honor.  He  must  show  that 
royal  blood  really  courses  through  his  veins. 
Therefore,  as  a  final  test,  all  the  warriors  ar- 
range themselves  in  two  parallel  rows,  a  few 
paces  apart,  each  one  with  a  sharp  knife  in 
104 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CROWN 

his  hand.  As  this  candidate  for  royal  honors 
walks  dehberately  between  these  two  rows  at 
every  step  he  receives  a  cut  on  the  back  of  the 
neck  or  shoulders.  If  he  survives  and  does 
not  falter  or  cry  out  with  pain,  his  royal  heritage 
is  secure. 

During  the  World's  Fair  in  Chicago,  attend- 
ing the  Parliament  of  Religions  was  a  very 
black  man,  who  one  day  strolled  into  the 
African  village  on  the  "Midway."  In  conversa- 
tion with  the  native  attendants,  he  announced 
himself  as  a  prince  of  a  certain  tribe.  In- 
stantly two  or  three  of  these  Africans  flew  at 
him,  tearing  away  the  clothing  from  his  neck 
and  shoulders,  and  behold,  there  were  the 
royal  marks. 

The  marks  of  Christian  royalty  are  marks 
of  spiritual  service.  We  prove  our  blood  kin- 
ship to  Jesus  Christ  not  by  name,  nor  by  form, 
nor  by  shibboleth,  but  by  lifting  the  world 
up  to  God  with  the  hydraulic  of  intercession 
and  the  dynamic  of  evangehstic  toil.  We  are 
in  Christ's  royal  line  if  the  resources  of  our 
lives  are  laid  under  tribute  in  a  ministry  like 
that  one  described  in  the  words,  "He  went 
about  doing  good."  Our  present  task  is  to  set 
forth  some  of  the  essential  corollaries  of  this 
105 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

final  proposition  of  evangelistic  coronation  for 
the  church. 

The  evangelistic  church  wears  the  crown  of 
honorable  succession.  This  succession  is  not 
one  of  necessity.  It  does  not  involve  ordina- 
tion of  its  clergy  nor  an  unbroken  history  from 
the  apostolate.  Where  is  the  successor  of 
Paul  if  not  the  church  or  Christian  worker 
that  goes  from  city  to  city  and  nation  to  nation 
as  tireless  missionary  itinerant?  Since  Peter's 
eager  voice  is  hushed,  who  may  claim  his  suc- 
cession but  he  who  preaches  the  gospel  with 
Pentecostal  fervor  and  stands  like  basaltic  rock 
against  the  powers  of  darkness.^  Who  have 
been  the  holders  of  the  regal  scepter  of  the 
Christ  through  the  Christian  centuries?  Who 
but  such  noble  spirits  as  Saint  Francis  and 
Bernard  and  Augustine?  Who  but  Luther  and 
Huss  and  Ridley  and  Latimer?  Who  but 
Moffat  and  Livingstone  and  Morrison?  Who 
are  now  the  true  Christian  apostles  but  the 
men  and  the  women  who  in  all  lands  and  in 
all  ways  are  bringing  in  Christ's  kingdom? 

The  successors  in  this  Christian  royalty  may 

not  sit  upon  thrones,  they  may  not  wear  the 

crown  of  gold,  they  may  not  wield  the  scepter 

of  empire.     They  will  be  found  in  the  busy 

106 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CROWN 

highways  and  the  lonely  bypaths  of  life.  They 
may  be  covered  with  the  sweat  and  grime  of 
honest  toil.  They  may  climb  the  rickety  stairs 
to  some  dark  garret  where  want  stares  out 
from  the  blanched  faces  of  dwarfed  children 
and  where  manhood  and  womanhood  have 
been  deflowered  by  the  crushing  hand  of 
industrial  oppression.  They  may  walk  the 
darksome  ways  of  the  alley  or  back  street  at 
midnight  seeking  for  the  wanderer  and  the 
lost.  They  may  stand  before  starving,  dying 
multitudes  breaking  unto  them  the  bread  of 
life.  They  may  pierce  the  jungle  or  brave  the 
arctic  rigor  for  the  love  of  those  never  before 
seen  or  known.  They  may  cross  the  seas  and 
traverse  the  continents  and  climb  the  moun- 
tains and  track  the  deserts  for  the  sake  of 
Christ  and  those  for  whom  he  died.  The  real 
successor  of  priest  or  preacher,  of  monk  or 
missionary,  of  reformer  or  religious  leader,  of 
saint  or  Saviour  is  the  Christian  Church  or 
Christian  worker  that  goes  to  the  uttermost 
length  of  service  in  the  effort  to  bring  peo- 
ple to  Christ.  Moreover,  the  evangelistic 
church  wears  the  crown  of  true  worthwhile- 
ness. 
Out  in  the  world  a  very  striking  character- 
107 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

istic  of  human  nature  is  involved  just  here. 
The  very  objects  of  covetous  desire,  the  very 
ends  for  which  people  strive,  the  very  pleasures 
and  pursuits  which  seem  to  give  such  breadth 
and  wealth  and  horizon  to  life  are  the  very 
things  which  harden  the  heart,  which  sap  the 
sweetest  juices  of  the  life,  which  contract  the 
sky,  which  shrivel  the  powers  of  the  soul,  and 
which  hasten  the  coming  of  the  night:  while 
a  service  which  seems  to  be  sacrifice,  a  self-con- 
trol which  may  be  called  self-denial,  an  outflow 
of  treasured  resources  which  betokens  exhaus- 
tion, a  forgetf ulness  of  self  which  finds  its  rarest 
satisfaction  in  the  uplift  of  others — these  things 
so  enrich  and  enlarge  sympathy,  so  deepen 
and  intensify  purpose,  so  purify  and  strengthen 
motives  that  life  is  kept  constantly  at  its  high- 
est levels,  is  appraised  at  its  largest  values,  and 
bestows  its  richest  benefactions  upon  others. 

Any  church  is  at  its  best  when  its  program 
is  a  ministry  for  others  rather  than  a  means 
of  self-congratulation  or  the  culture  of  a  smug 
self-satisfaction.  Paul  keyed  his  own  life  up 
to  its  highest  pitch  when  he  swept  its  strings 
in  sympathetic  and  cheering  melodies  to  glad- 
den others'  hearts.  His  sacrificial  ministry, 
which  brought  him  shipwreck  and  stonings, 
108 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CROWN 

imprisonment  and  the  marks  of  self-denying 
service,  made  his  life  worth  preserving  in  a 
literature  that  will  never  die.  John  was  re- 
warded for  his  life  of  love  and  surrender  with 
an  exile's  rough  fare  on  lonely  Patmos.  And 
yet  Patmos  became  his  watchtower  from  which 
he  looked  into  the  glories  of  the  City  Celestial 
and  set  down  for  the  discouraged  church  his 
promise  of  future  Christian  dominion.  The 
testimony  of  all  the  Christian  centuries  is  a 
further  proof  of  this  same  proposition. 

The  engaging  thing  about  our  present  dis- 
cussion is  the  crown  of  glorious  success  which 
is  worn  by  the  evangelistic  church.  In  a  never- 
to-be-forgotten  story  Jesus  hinted  at  prodigious 
results  from  Christian  effort  in  his  parable  of 
the  sower  and  his  seed,  that  sometimes  one 
might  expect  a  harvest  of  thirty  and  sixty  and 
even  an  hundred  fold.  In  no  other  field  is  the 
fulfillment  of  that  promise  likely  to  climb  to 
such  startling  heights  as  in  evangelism.  Here  a 
single  word  may  weigh  tons;  here  a  slight 
effort  may  bring  an  amazing  harvest;  here  a 
trivial  act  may  decide  a  destiny,  and  the 
individual  convert  may  be  multiplied,  not  an 
hundred  but  a  thousandfold. 

Several  years  ago  a  family  moved  into  the 
109 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

town  where  I  was  the  pastor,  the  parents  being 
members  of  the  church.  I  secured  their  trans- 
fers and  during  the  next  year  the  older  son,  a 
lad  of  fifteen,  made  a  quiet,  almost  unnoticed 
consecration  to  Christ.  The  decision  was  made 
after  a  mere  word  from  the  preacher  and 
created  no  special  comment.  He  began  to  work 
in  the  church  and  Sunday  school  where  he  won 
his  scholars  to  Christ.  Finishing  high  school  at 
the  head  of  his  class,  he  entered  a  college  of 
the  Central  V^'est.  He  became  a  factor  in  stu- 
dent activities,  editor  of  college  publications, 
college  orator,  and  is  facing  life  with  a  firm 
consecration  to  some  form  of  Christian  service, 
probably  the  ministry. 

The  infinite  possibilities  of  thoroughgoing 
evangelism  have  never  been  given  a  real  trial. 
Evangelism  has  been  tried  in  spots,  and  by 
spurts,  and  by  some  churches  and  preachers, 
but  never  with  the  perseverance  and  thorough- 
ness which  is  required  to  properly  assize  its 
value. 

The  "Win-One"  movement  goes  forward  by 
geometrical  rather  than  by  arithmetical  pro- 
gression, for  each  new  convert  becomes  (or 
should  become)   a  new  center  of  growth  and 

power.     It  has  been  pointed  out  that  if  Jesus 
110 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CROWN 

were  just  ascending  to  heaven  and  were  leaving 
but  twelve  disciples  as  the  result  of  his  earthly 
ministry,  and  each  of  the  twelve  would  win 
one  convert  apiece  in  a  year's  time,  and  each 
new  convert  would  win  another  in  a  year's 
time,  and  the  process  be  maintained  without 
lapse  or  loss,  then  the  babe  that  is  now  in  its 
cradle  would  be  but  twenty-eight  years  old 
when  the  whole  world  would  be  evangelized. 

Wherever  evangelism  has  been  tried  it  has 
registered  in  amazing  triumphs.  Those  churches 
and  pastors  that  give  it  the  proper  place  of 
centrality  in  their  program  believe  in  its  prac- 
ticability and  rejoice  in  its  success. 

In  the  fourth  year  of  evangehsm  at 
Mishawaka  our  church  joined  in  a  city- wide 
simultaneous  campaign.  The  preparatory  work, 
the  cottage  prayer  meetings,  the  publicity  plans 
were  all  directed  by  a  union  committee,  but 
when  we  came  to  the  meetings  themselves 
each  pastor  conducted  his  own  services  in  his 
own  church. 

Our  plan  of  reorganization  was  the  most 
complete  of  any  we  had  yet  tried.  The  entire 
membership  of  the  church  was  organized  into 
five  evangelistic  teams.  Team  A  was  com- 
posed of  church  officials  with  their  wives  and 
111 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

some  others  whom  I  selected  to  work  with  them. 
The  deputy  postmaster  was  leader  of  this  team. 

Team  B  was  made  up  of  men  recruited 
largely  from  the  Brotherhood  and  the  Men's 
Bible  Class.  The  mayor  of  the  city  was  the 
team  leader. 

Team  C  was  the  women's  team,  and  there 
was  an  army  of  them,  the  teacher  of  the  largest 
adult  class  in  the  Sunday  school  being  the 
leader. 

Team  D  was  composed  of  young  people,  very 
largely  from  the  Ep worth  League  forces,  with 
the  Epworth  League  president  as  the  leader. 

Team  E  was  the  Sunday  school  team,  com- 
posed of  all  the  teachers  below  the  adult  de- 
partment, the  department  superintendents, 
many  of  the  Sunday  school  workers  and  schol- 
ars. The  superintendent  of  the  school  was 
the  leader  of  this  team. 

A  letter  was  mailed  to  every  resident  mem- 
ber of  the  church  assigning  each  one  to  one 
of  these  five  teams  and  calling  them  for  a  pre- 
liminary meeting.  The  first  week  of  the  cam- 
paign proper  was  given  over  to  these  teams, 
one  team  a  night.  Under  the  pastor's  guidance, 
each  team  organized,  conferred  as  to  plans,  and 
spent  much  time  in  prayer. 

112 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CROWN 

Committees  were  appointed  as  follows: 

A  committee  to  have  charge  of  the  opening  devo- 
tional service  on  each  night  that  the  particular 
team  promoted  the  meeting.  This  was  once  a 
week. 

A  committee  to  arrange  for  some  special  musical 
numbers  each  team  night. 

A  committee  of  ushers. 

A  committee  to  have  charge  of  the  personal  work 
and  to  apportion  the  names  of  the  prospects  and 
constituents  (already  prepared)  among  the 
workers. 

A  committee  called  the  "Check  Up"  Committee.  It 
was  its  duty  to  check  up  the  team  members  each 
night  after  the  service  for  which  its  own  team  was 
responsible,  and  to  get  on  the  trail  of  the  absent 
members  the  next  day. 

Following  the  first  meeting  of  the  team,  the 
leader  sent  a  personal  letter  to  each  absentee 
calling  attention  to  the  team  organization,  and 
the  work  expected  and  urging  his  cooperation. 

Thus,  before  the  nightly  meetings  began, 
every  member  of  the  church  had  received  one 
personal  letter  concerning  the  campaign,  and 
if  not  present  at  the  preliminary  meeting  had 
received  two,  and  if  not  present  during  the 
first  week,  had  received  three  personal  re- 
minders of  the  big  business  on  hand. 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  plan  of  organization 
113 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

provides  for  three  classes  of  people  most  neces- 
sary to  real  success  in  evangelism. 

First:  it  provides  for  the  regular  workers 
in  the  church,  in  that  it  assigns  a  definite  task 
to  each  one. 

Second:  it  provides  for  the  non-active,  non- 
attending  members  of  the  church,  in  that 
some  member  of  the  "Check-Up"  Committee 
goes  after  every  such  laggard  each  week  of  the 
campaign. 

Third:  it  provides  for  the  non-Christians,  in 
that  the  entire  constituency  of  the  church  is 
divided  among  the  personal  work  committees 
of  the  teams,  and  a  personal  invitation  to  the 
services  and  to  Christian  confession  and  con- 
secration is  extended  to  each. 

Again,  this  hand-picked  method  of  getting 
the  prospects  to  the  services  does  not  bring  as 
great  a  number  on  any  one  night,  but  there  is 
much  more  of  a  chance  of  winning  those  who 
do  come  than  by  any  wholesale  plan. 

Instead  of  having  a  hundred  non-Christians 
at  a  service  and  by  the  drag-net  method  land- 
ing ten,  you  have  ten  or  more  there  who  come 
after  personal  invitation  and  entreaty,  and 
there  is  a  good  chance  of  landing  all  or  most 
of  them. 

114 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CROWN 

With  this  organization  completed  and  en- 
gaged in  personal  interviews  nightly  services 
are  begun  which  are  conducted  for  three  weeks 
in  the  church  auditorium. 

A  big  mixed  chorus  leads  the  singing  under 
the  direction  of  a  specially  secured  leader. 
The  pastor  of  the  church  does  the  preachings 
but  everybody  helps. 

Decision  Day  services  are  conducted  on 
successive  Sundays  in  the  Junior,  the  Inter- 
mediate, and  the  Senior  departments  of  the 
Sunday  school. 

Conversions  occur  at  nearly  every  service. 
No  sensational  things  are  done,  but  the  meet- 
ings are  deeply  spiritual  and  enthusiastic. 

When  the  last  service  of  this  campaign  was 
over,  closing  the  greatest  day  of  the  campaign, 
on  which  there  had  been  sixty -nine  conversions 
and  accessions,  we  found  that  the  converts 
numbered  one  hundred  and  fifty  and  the  acces- 
sions one  himdred  and  thirty-five. 

In  the  cooperation  of  the  people,  in  the 
spirit  of  the  meeting,  in  the  deep  impress  upon 
the  church  and  community,  this  had  been, 
perhaps,  the  best  campaign  of  all. 

It  has  been  proven  beyond  a  peradventure 

that  any  church  can,  if  it  will,  meet  the  con- 
115 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

ditions  for  successful  evangelism.  The  confi- 
dent optimism  of  pastor  and  people,  the  spirit 
of  patient,  passionate  prayer,  the  thorough- 
going organization  and  painstaking  plans  that 
would  characterize  any  worthwhile  undertaking 
— these  will  function  in  evangelistic  triumphs 
more  or  less  notable,  under  the  leadership  of 
the  Holy  Spirit. 

Evangelism  is  the  regular  program  in  the 
normal,  growing  church.  It  is  its  divinely 
commissioned  task  and  cannot  be  shifted  with- 
out shame  nor  shirked  without  disaster.  The 
successful  church  will  be  its  own  evangelist. 
No  matter  what  accessory  aid  may  be  regarded 
as  proper  or  profitable  at  times,  it  simply  cannot 
deputize  its  responsibility  nor  substitute  the 
faith  and  labor  of  outside  helpers  for  its  own. 

» Moreover,  it  is  becoming  increasingly  clear 
that  the  churches  are  ready  for  evangelism  as 
quickly  as  the  pastoral  leaders  point  the  way. 
The  laymen  of  every  kind  and  condition  will 
follow  a  consecrated,  far-visioned  pastor  to  the 
end  of  the  evangelistic  program. 

As  the  old  year  was  nearing  its  close  it 
occurred  to  a  pastor  that  it  might  be  possible 
to  register,  in  the  interest  of  personal  conse- 
cration, the  many  good  resolutions  which  mark 
116 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CROWN 

the  beginning  of  each  new  year.  If  New 
Years  is  a  time  when  people  think  deeply 
concerning  eternal  issues  and  turn,  half  hesi- 
tatingly and  half  impetuously,  new  leaves  on 
which  they  hope  to  write  a  better  record  than 
before,  then  why  not  help  these  persons  to 
function  their  good  intentions  in  definite  and 
immediate  Christian  decisions?  This  was  his 
query,  and  then  followed  his  plan. 

The  plan  called  for  at  least  seventeen  people 
who  would  compose  a  "seventeen"  class  to  be 
received  into  the  church  on  the  first  com- 
munion Sunday  of  1917. 

Compiling  a  list  of  seventeen  prospects  with 
whom  he  had  talked  and  who  might  be  regarded 
as  ready  for  the  final  step  toward  Christ  and 
his  service,  he  made  them  the  subjects  of  daily 
prayer  for  ten  or  twelve  days  before  unfolding 
the  plan  to  a  single  person  except  the  mistress 
of  the  manse. 

Next  he  selected  with  diligent  care  seventeen 
workers  from  the  congregation,  wrote  each  a 
letter  unfolding  the  proposed  plan,  and  called 
them  to  a  conference  at  the  close  of  the  eveninjg 
service  on  Sunday,  December  31.  At  that 
time  the  details  of  procedure  were  fixed.  Each 
of  these  leaders  would  be  the  center  of  a  prayer 
117 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

group  of  not  fewer  than  three  and  not  more 
than  seven.  They  would  select  their  own 
group  members  and  would  settle  upon  one, 
two,  or  three  prospects.  For  these  they  would 
pray  and  toil  for  the  next  fortnight. 

Cards  were  provided  these  workers  and  were 
passed  to  those  in  the  pubhc  congregation  who 
would  take  them.  These  cards  contained  this 
proposition: 

MY  DECISION  FOR  1917 

I  will  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  my  personal  Saviour. 

I  will  publicly  acknowledge  him  as  such. 

I  will  be  one  of  a  class  of  at  least  seventeen  to  be  received 
into  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Memorial  Church 
on  Communion  Sunday,  January  14,  1917. 

Name Address 

Although  the  entire  church  knew  of  the  plan 
and  all  were  urged  to  participate,  yet  the  chief 
reliance  for  the  work  was  placed  in  the  selected 
seventeen  leaders,  the  congregation  as  a  whole 
being  unaware  of  the  inner  and  more  intensive 
campaign  that  was  being  waged. 

The   campaign   was    in   progress   an   entire 

week   before  the  minister  had   interviewed   a 

single  person  on  his  list.     He  wanted  to  test 

the  preparatory  values  in  prayer  to  the  fullest 
118 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CROWN 

extent,  was  anxious  for  the  Holy  Spirit  to  have 
a  fair  chance  before  the  appeal  should  be  made, 
and  was  determined  that  when  they  came  to 
the  interview  the  very  atmosphere  would  be 
heavy  with  prayer. 

Of  course  the  goal  of  "seventeen"  was  ex- 
ceeded— why  not?  When  the  class  filed  into 
their  seats  reserved  for  them  in  the  front  of 
the  church  Sunday  morning  it  was  found  that 
they  were,  not  seventeen,  but  twenty-eight. 
This  aggregate  included  two  sick  men,  father 
and  son,  to  whose  home  the  pastor  went  in  the 
afternoon  and  in  a  touching  service  baptized 
and  received  them  into  the  church. 

There  were  other  significant  facts.  Five 
of  the  people,  long  on  preparatory  member- 
ship, had  been  stirred  into  action  and,  after 
indifference,  renewed  faith  and  consecration. 
Three  letters  that  had  reposed  in  the  pastor's 
desk  for  months  and,  in  one  case,  for  more  than 
a  year,  were  requisitioned  as  the  revived  mem- 
bers were  transferred  to  the  church  roll.  Four- 
teen of  the  total  were  men,  including  the 
superintendent  of  schools,  the  principal  of  the 
high  school  and  the  athletic  coach  in  the  high 
school.  Ten  were  husbands  of  wives,  five 
couples  were  beginning  their  religious  lives  to- 
lls 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

gether.  One  man,  a  grocer,  while  the  pastor 
was  in  the  grips  with  him  in  his  oflSce,  called 
in  a  clerk  and  the  two  made  their  surrender  to 
Christ,  so  that  when  this  business  man  stood 
at  the  chancel  of  the  church,  he  had  in  that 
very  class  one  trophy  of  his  evangeHstic  appeal. 
With  three  exceptions,  all  were  adults,  not 
that  children  are  discredited  as  converts,  but 
the  effort  was  designed  for  adults  and  the 
children  were  diligently  provided  for  in  other 
ways. 

Finally,  the  reflexive  influences  of  such  a 
program  upon  the  church  are  rich  and  monu- 
mental. A  thousand  converts  in  five  years  in 
one  church  means  more  than  a  statistical 
record  for  the  local  church  or  the  denomina- 
tional year  book.  It  means  that  the  stream  of 
spiritual  progress  and  blessing  is  flowing  in 
many  directions.  It  means  that  the  Sunday 
school  has  doubled  its  average  attendance,  that 
the  church  has  increased  its  local  budget  at 
least  one  hundred  per  cent,  that  the  spirit  of 
stewardship  has  been  quickened,  and  it  means 
that  benevolent  giving  has  risen  to  a  tide 
nearly  three  times  greater  than  any  previous 
mark.  It  means  additional  salaried  workers 
for  the  local  church  and  a  missionary  pastor 

120 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  CROWN 

in  lands  across  the  seas.  It  means  that  young 
people  from  its  ranks  are  going  into  prepara- 
tion for  special  Christian  service.  It  means  a 
much  broader  field  of  service  and  a  more  in- 
tense interest  in  the  problems  of  the  local  com- 
munity. It  means  that  the  preacher  has 
loftier  spiritual  ideals  and  a  clearer  redemptional 
emphasis  in  his  preaching.  It  means  that  the 
laymen  have  broader  vision,  larger  sympathy, 
greater  liberality,  and  are  increasingly  available 
in  various  fields  of  service.  It  means  that  the 
church  is  willing  to  add  to  its  social  responsibil- 
ities and  to  project  its  arms  of  helpfulness  even 
across  the  seas  and  around  the  world.  It  means 
that  such  a  program  of  evangelism  gives  a 
vitalizing  impulse  to  every  unit  of  power  and 
every  item  of  service  that  keeps  a  church  pure 
and  strong  and  ready  for  the  militant  conquest 
of  the  world. 


121 


AFTERWORD 

The  bearing  of  this  entire  book  is  toward 
local  church  evangeHsm  under  pastoral  direc- 
tion and  with  the  generous  cooperation  of  the 
laymen.  Rob  it  of  such  emphasis  and  its  mes- 
sage fails.  Yet  this  writer  would  be  among 
the  last  to  discredit  the  mission  and  the  success 
of  many  of  the  itinerant  evangelists.  A  dim 
boyhood  recollection  pictures  Dwight  L.  Moody 
preaching  in  a  tent  meeting  in  Chicago  during 
the  Columbian  Exposition  in  that  city.  And 
while  not  as  vivid  as  it  might  be,  it  is  a  cher- 
ished memory.  I  have  heard  to  my  immense 
profit  such  preachers  of  the  evangelistic  gospel 
as  Gipsy  Smith  and  Torrey;  it  was  a  sermon 
preached  at  Lake  Geneva,  Wisconsin,  by  J. 
Wilbur  Chapman,  that  led  directly  to  my 
consecration  to  the  ministry,  while  I  have 
had  the  good  fortune  to  be  associated,  through 
an  entire  campaign  of  seven  weeks,  with  that 
doughty  champion  of  righteousness,  "Billy" 
Sunday. 

These  experiences  and  associations  are  en- 
shrined  in  memories  most  dehghtful  and  in 

122 


AFTERWORD 

inspirations  most  uplifting.  Nevertheless  my 
keener  interest  has  been  stimulated  by  evan- 
gelistic pastors,  who,  with  a  full  quota  of  parish 
responsibilities  and  administrative  duties,  have 
sounded  the  evangelistic  note  from  their  pul- 
pits and  have  so  organized  their  membership 
for  personal  evangelism  that  they  have  been 
able  to  build  up  the  Kingdom  in  one  community 
year  after  year. 


123 


APPENDIX 

BOOKS  ON  EVANGELISM 

Broadhurst:  Personal  Work. 

Brushingham:  Catching  Men. 

Chapman:  The  Personal  Touch. 

Dawson :  The  Evangelistic  Note. 

Goodell:  Pastoral  and  Personal  Evangelism. 

Hughes:  Letters  on  Evangelism. 

Johnston:  God's  Methods  of  Training  Personal  Workers. 

Studies  for  Personal  Workers. 

Jowett:  The  Passion  for  Souls. 

Leete:  Every  Day  Evangelism. 

MacDonald :  The  Revival — A  Symposium. 

McConaughty:  Christ  Among  Men. 

McKinley:  Educational  Evangelism. 

Morgan:  Evangelism. 

Peck:  The  Revival  and  the  Pastor. 

Sayford:  Personal  Work. 

Sheridan :  The  Sunday  Night  Service. 

The  Experimental  Note. 

Stone:  Recruiting  for  Christ. 
Swift:  Gospel  Cheer  Messages. 
Torrey:  How  to  Bring  Men  to  Christ. 
Trumbull:  Individual  Work  for  Individuals. 

Taking  Men  Alive  (Charles  Gallaudet). 
124 


APPENDIX 

SAMPLES  OF  EVANGELISTIC  PLANS, 
LETTERS,  LITERATURE,  ETC. 

The  following  samples  of  Plans,  Letters,  Lit- 
erature, etc.,  were  all  used  in  our  evangelistic 
program  as  carried  out  in  a  five-years'  pastorate 
in  the  Memorial  Methodist  Church,  Mishawaka, 
Indiana. 

They  are  presented  with  the  feeling  of  re- 
luctance because  of  the  excessive  personal  ele- 
ments, and  yet  they  may  carry  more  of 
suggestion  for  that  very  reason. 

During  one  year's  campaign  the  regular 
church  Bulletin  was  used  for  pubhcity  pur- 
poses, as  is  seen  in  the  following  examples: 

First  Week 

DO  I  WANT  A  REVIVAL  IN  MISHAWAKA? 

This  is  the  question  which  will  be  the  central  theme  at 
the  midweek  service  next  Thursday  evening.  You  cannot 
afford  to  miss  this  service. 


We  begin  our  Evangelistic  Campaign  next  Sunday  with 
the  Third  Quarterly  Meeting.  At  the  morning  service 
there  will  be  Communion,  Baptism,  and  Reception  of 
Members. 


I   NEED   THE   REVIVAL   AND   THE   REVIVAL 
NEEDS  ME. 

125 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

Second  Week 

THE  EVANGELISTIC  PREPARATION 

Prayer  and  consecration.  Scripture  reading  and  medita- 
tion, harmony  with  God  in  his  purposes  of  salvation  and 
harmony  with  the  present  plan  of  campaign — these  things 
are  necessary  as  preparatory  to  our  revival  movement. 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  PASSION 

This  work  will  not  succeed  without  a  baptism  of  holy 
enthusiasm.  Evangelism  needs  the  warm  atmosphere  of 
fervor  and  utter  abandon.  Indifference  and  coldness  will 
kill  the  revival  more  quickly  than  hostility.  When  this 
church  exposes  to  this  community  a  heart  broken  in  sym- 
pathetic sorrow  and  tender  in  passionate  love  for  the 
wayward,  then  the  response  will  be  immediate  and  far- 
reaching. 


THE  EVANGELISTIC  PROGRAM 
Monday 

Prayer  and  personal  interviews. 

Tuesday 

Church  families  at  supper  at  6:30  in  the  social 
rooms  of  the  church.  Brief  session  of  the  Quarterly 
Conference  at  7:30  with  an  evangelistic  address  by 
Dr.  Somerville  Light. 

Wednesday 

Social  and  prayer  meetings  in  each  company  of  the 
Loyal  Legion  at  7:30. 
126 


APPENDIX 

Thursday 

Evangelistic  rally  at  the  church  with  the  pastor  in- 
charge,  at  7:30. 

Friday 

Conference  of  committees,  personal  workers,  and 
captains  of  the  Loyal  Legion  at  7:30,  at  the  church. 
Saturday 

Prayer  and  personal  invitations,  with  every  Chris- 
tian a  member  of  the  "Win-One"  League. 

Third  Week 

The  campaign  was  actually  on. 

The  great  campaign  is  on! 

Revival  services  will  be  held  in  the  auditorium  of  the 
church  each  evening  of  this  week  except  Saturday. 

Services  will  begin  at  7:30,  a  men's  chorus  will  sing,  the 
Billy  Sunday  songs  will  be  used,  the  pastor  will  preach 
and  victory  is  expected. 


These  special  services  will  close  on  Sunday,  February 
first,  so  that  what  is  done  must  be  done  quickly.  The  pre- 
paratory work  has  been  done,  the  seed  has  been  sown,  the 
ground  has  been  cultured,  the  climatic  conditions  are 
favorable — now  for  the  harvest! 


SPECIAL  NIGHTS  THIS  WEEK 
Monday 

The  OflBcial  Board  and  famiHes. 
Tuesday 

Loyal  Legion  Night. 

127 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

Wednesday 

New  Members'  Night.    All  who  have  been  received 

into  this  church  during  the  present  pastorate  are 

especially  urged  to  come. 
Thursday 

Woman's  Home  Missionary  Society  Night. 
Friday 

SUNDAY  SCHOOL  NIGHT. 

Fourth  Week 

The  Revival  is  now  in  full  swing.  The  attendance  has 
increased  from  night  to  night  aggregating  2,412  for  the 
week. 


The  pastor  rejoices  in  the  interest  and  faithful  work  of 
so  many  of  the  members.  However,  "there  remaineth  yet 
very  much  land  to  be  possessed."  Scores  of  our  member- 
ship have  not  attended  a  single  service,  hundreds  of  pros- 
pects have  not  yet  been  reached.  But  two  weeks  remain 
of  this  campaign,  and  they  should  be  crowded  with  prayer, 
personal  work,  and  Christian  service. 


The  "Win-One"  League  is  at  work,  results  are  showing, 
prospects  are  heartening.  Have  you  enrolled.'*  If  not, 
why  not? 


SPECIAL  NIGHTS  THIS  WEEK 

Monday 

Ladies'  Aid  Society  Night. 
Tuesday 

Brotherhood  Night. 

128 


APPENDIX 

Wednesday 

Shimron  Bible  Class  Night. 
Thursday 

Young  People's  Night. 
Friday 

Dorcas  Society  Night. 

Fifth  Week:  Final  of  the  Campaign 

We  are  entering  the  final  week  of  our  revival  campaign. 
God  has  been  graciously  blessing  us.  Many  have  been  en- 
tering the  Christian  life,  and  many  more  have  been  re- 
newing their  consecration. 

Nevertheless,  the  time  for  shouting  over  victories  has 
not  yet  arrived;  the  present  situation  demands  the  most 
faithful  devotion  to  the  work  we  have  in  hand. 

PERSONAL  PROGRAM  FOR  THIS  WEEK 

Each  day  at  least  one  Bible  Chapter,  prayers  for  the 
revival  at  seven  and  twelve  and  six,  at  least  one  personal 
interview  on  the  subject  of  religion,  attendance  upon  the 
evening  service  with  a  non-Christian  friend. 

How  many  will  earnestly  strive  to  execute  this  program, 
God  being  their  helper? 

SPECIAL  NIGHTS  THIS  WEEK 
Monday 

Membership  Rally  Night. 
Tuesday 

Boy  Scouts'  Night. 

The  Boy  Scouts  will  attend  in  a  body  and  be  seated 

in  reserved  seats. 

129 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

Wednesday 

MEN'S  NIGHT 

All  men  of  Mishawaka,  young  and  old,  rich  and 
poor,  business,  laboring  and  professional,  are  in- 
vited.   Reserved  seats  for  all  men. 

Thursday 

WOMEN'S  NIGHT 

Every  woman  is  urged  to  attend  this  service  with 
her  friends.    Seats  reserved  for  women. 
Friday 

Sunday  School  Rally  Night.  Our  Aim:  All  mem- 
bers of  the  school  present  with  their  parents  and 
friends,  and  all  Christians. 

After  the  nightly  services  were  completed  a 
Revival  Extension  was  decided  upon,  according 
to  the  following  announcement: 

THE  REVIVAL  EXTENSION 

The  splendid  revival  of  the  past  month  will  be  extended 
indefinitely  in  two  services  a  week.  One  of  these  will  be 
the  Sunday  evening  service  in  which  the  message  will  be 
evangelistic  and  the  opportunity  will  be  given  to  confess 
Christ  as  personal  Saviour. 

The  other  will  be  the  midweek  service  which  will  be 
held  in  the  church  auditorium,  with  choral  music,  a  ser- 
mon by  the  pastor,  and  the  direct  and  personal  evangelis- 
tic appeal.  This  will  be  a  great  service  for  the  entire 
church  and  the  general  public. 


The  Revival   Extension   Service  will   be  held   in  the 
church  auditorium  on  Thursday  evening  beginning  at 
130 


APPENDIX 

7:30.  The  Epworth  League  Chorus  will  sing  and  Young 
People's  Night  will  be  observed.  All  young  people  and 
their  friends  are  urged  to  be  present.  This  is  your  evan- 
gelistic opportunity! 

The  Sunday  evenmg  service  furnishes  an  excellent 
chance  for  the  members  of  the  church  to  serve  their 
friends  and  acquaintances.  A  cordial  invitation  to  join 
you  at  the  evening  service  may  be  the  opening  of  the 
highway  to  Christ.    Try  it! 

During  the  1915  campaign,  as  well  as  in 
preparation  for  it,  the  church  Bulletin  was 
capitalized  to  the  fullest  extent  as  a  publicity 
medium,  as  will  appear  below. 


First  Week 
A  Church  Membership  Catechism 

1.  How  many  names  are  on  the  Membership  Roll  of  this 
church? 

2.  How  many  united  with  this  church  last  year? 

3.  How  many  of  these  were  transfers  of  membership 
from  other  Methodist  churches? 

4.  How  many  persons  have  united  with  this  church  on 
confession  of  faith  or  by  probation  in  the  last  five 
years? 

5.  What  is  the  total  number  of  names  on  the  Church 
Roll  from  the  organization  of  the  society  until  the 
present  time,  including  the  Probationers'  Roll? 

131 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

6.  What  is  the  chief  reason  for  the  difference  between  the 
total  roll  and  the  present  Membership  Roll? 

7.  Have  we  any  plan  for  renewing  the  lapsed  and  unin- 
terested? 

8.  Is  there  any  vital  relation  between  the  local  church 
and  the  Nonresident  Roll? 

9.  What  methods  were  used,  chiefly,   in  securing  the 
present  membership? 

10.  Has   this  church  an  all-the-year-round  Evangelistic 
Program?     What  is  it? 

11.  How  many  names  are  on  your  Constituency  Roll? 

12.  Are  you  expecting  to  see  every  unsaved  person  in  your 
community  brought  to  Christ? 


Beginning  the  Laymen's  Evangelistic 
Campaign 

All  who  will  agree  to  engage  in  personal  work  during 
our  Laymen's  Evangelistic  Campaign  are  urged  to  meet 
the  pastor  in  the  main  Sunday  school  room  on  Wednes- 
day evening  at  7 :30.  The  names  of  our  Constituency  Roll 
will  be  ready  for  distribution  at  that  time.  Let  it  be  un- 
derstood that  the  practical  organization  of  our  campaign 
will  be  effected  at  this  meeting,  and  its  importance  cannot 
be  overestimated. 

The  most  of  this  work  is  to  be  conducted  in  private,  so 
that  this  call  is  simply  for  those  of  our  membership  who 
will  agree  to  take  the  names  of  several  non-Christians  and 
interview  them  on  the  subject  of  the  Christian  life.  YOU 
are  in  that  class  of  workers. 

132 


APPENDIX 

Second  Week 

During  this  week  our  workers  will  be  busy  with  our 
personal  evangelistic  campaign  and  the  first  reports  will 
be  received  at  the  Personal  Workers'  Meeting  on  Wednes- 
day evening.  The  main  Sunday  school  department  should 
be  crowded  at  7 :30  sharp  next  Wednesday  evening. 

/Prayer 
You  can  easily  remember  I  Plan 

J  Purpose 
these  seven  P'S  as  essentials        <  Perseverance 

.    .  j  Patience 

to  evangelistic  success.  /  Passion 

\  Power 

Please  remember  the  new  midweek  service  program  for 
Thursday  evening.  In  the  Shinu-on  Class  room  the  pastor 
will  conduct  the  Epworth  League  class  in  Personal  Evan- 
gelism for  all  the  young  people.  This  class  will  begin  at 
7:15  and  close  at  8  o'clock.  At  7:30  a  layman  will  have 
charge  of  a  praise  and  prayer  service  in  the  main  Sunday 
school  room,  and  at  8  o'clock  the  meetings  will  be  com- 
bined with  the  pastor  in  charge. 

These  services  will  have  a  vital  bearing  on  our  Evan- 
gelistic Campaign  and  should  make  their  appeal  to  the 
entire  church  membership. 

Be  sure  to  read  this  triple  pledge:  if  you  need  to 
sign  any  part  of  it,  do  so,  and  hand  or  mail  to  the  pastor; 
if  not,  present  it  to  some  non-Christian  friend  or  ac- 
quaintance. 

I  will  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  my  personal  Saviour. 
I  will  publicly  acknowledge  him  as  such. 
133 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

I  will  join  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Memorial 
Church  on  or  before  Sunday,  December  6, 1914. 

Name 

Address 

Note:— 

Are  you  using  your  church  attendance  card? 

Your  presence  and  sympathy  are  greatly  needed  in  our 
forward  Laymen's  Evangelistic  Movement. 

Beginning  with  next  Sunday  we  shall  swing  our  Lay- 
men's Evangelistic  Campaign  into  a  series  of  general 
services  in  the  church  auditorium  with  meetings  each 
night  except  Saturday,  a  men's  chorus  with  Mr.  Harvey 
Crawford,  of  Elkhart,  as  director,  and  an  intensive  pro- 
gram which  will  culminate  on  Sunday,  December  6th.  The 
time  is  short  and  every  other  engagement  shoidd  be  side- 
tracked that  this  Revival  Campaign  may  have  right  of 
way. 

The  personal  work  is  going  forward.  Some  are  faith- 
fully engaged  in  interviewing  friends  and  acquaintances  on 
the  subject  of  religion  and  their  personal  relation  to  Jesus 
Christ.  Results  are  beginning  to  come  in  and  there  is 
every  reason  for  encouragement.  Nevertheless,  it  is  im- 
perative that  very  many  more  of  our  members  get  into 
this  campaign  at  once.  If  you  are  a  Christian  and  a 
church  member,  what  excuse  have  you  for  not  being  en- 
gaged just  now  in  personal  evangelism? 

The  service  on  next  Thursday  evening  will  be  in  the 

nature  of  an  evangelistic  rally  among  all  the  forces  of  the 

church  of  all  ages.     The  pastor  will  have  charge  and 

earnestly  desires  that  the  meeting  be  up  to  evangelistic 

134 


APPENDIX 

pitch  in  every  way.    You  can  help  it  to  be  such  if  you  will 
pray  for  it,  invite  a  friend  and  bring  him  with  you. 

The  measure  of  our  opportunity  is  likewise  the  measure 
of  our  responsibility.  Candidly  determine  your  evangelis- 
tic responsibility  upon  that  basis. 

Here  are  samples  of  the  pastor's  page  as  em- 
ployed to  boost  the  1916  evangelistic  cam- 
paign : 

Union  Cottage  Prayer  Meetings  will  be  held  in 
various  parts  of  the  city  on  Tuesday  and  Friday  evenings 
for  the  next  two  weeks.  The  city  has  been  divided  into 
six  districts  and  each  cooperating  church  will  have  charge 
of  the  prayer  meetings  within  a  given  district.  On  the 
south  side  of  the  river  the  Christian  Church  will  direct  the 
work  in  the  section  west  of  Spring  street,  the  Methodist 
Church  has  the  section  from  Spring  to  Union  and  the 
Presbyterian  Church  has  the  section  east  of  Union.  On 
the  north  side  of  the  river  Christyann  and  Ann  streets  are 
the  division  lines,  the  First  Baptist  Church  having  the 
east  section,  the  Evangelical  Church  the  central  section 
and  the  Emmanuel  Baptist  Church  the  west  section. 

A  Prayer  Covenant  is  desired  which  shall  federate 
our  supplication  with  Christians  of  all  the  churches  in 
South  Bend  and  Mishawaka,  as  well  as  the  churches  all 
over  Goshen  District  and  North  Indiana  Conference,  for 
this  evangelistic  campaign  is  not  merely  a  city-wide 
movement — it  includes  our  entire  Conference. 

Let  us  take  6  o'clock  in  the  evening  as  our  regular 
time  for  daily  prayer  for  this  campaign.  The  chimes  will 
riug  out  the  hour  of  prayer,  at  which  time,  whether  at 
135 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

work,  on  the  street  or  at  home,  let  us  breathe  a  prayer  for 
the  success  of  this  great  revival  campaign. 

Let  Us  Evangelize  these  Sunday  evening  services 
which  remain  until  the  nightly  meetings  begin.  Let  those 
who  do  not  usually  do  so  make  it  a  point  to  attend  the 
evening  services  and  begin  the  campaign  of  personal  work 
by  bringing  a  friend  with  you  to  the  services  this  evening. 
Why  wait  for  two  or  three  weeks?    "Why  Not  Now.''" 

Both  the  South  Bend  Daily  Papers  have  given 
editorial  commendation  to  the  evangelistic  plans  now 
being  operated.  These  papers  declare  that  as  much 
interest  should  be  aroused  and  as  much  good  done  under 
such  an  arrangement  as  if  a  notable  evangelist  were  to 
conduct  the  meetings.  The  spirit  of  expectancy  is  in  the 
air.  The  desire  to  cooperate  is  seen  on  every  side  and  the 
results  will  doubtless  be  gratifying.  The  favorable  atti- 
tude of  the  press  is  especially  encouraging  and  the  space 
which  the  papers  are  devoting  and  will  continue  to  devote 
to  this  movement  is  deeply  appreciated  by  ministers  and 
churches. 

My  Part  in  the  Campaign,  what  is  it.^  Will  I  do  my 
part  or  fail?    Am  I  a  worker  or  a  shirker? 

Watch  the  Evening  Papers  on  Monday  and  Thursday 
for  the  announcements  of  the  cottage  prayer  meetings  in 
various  parts  of  the  city.  Let  the  churches  go  forward  in 
this  mighty  evangelistic  effort  on  their  knees. 

The  Rev.  J.  J.  Fischer,  of  North  Manchester,  a 
minister  with  an  unusually  good  voice  and  a  man  who 
has  had  considerable  success  in  evangelistic  services,  will 
assist  the  pastor  during  two  weeks  of  our  revival  meet- 
ings, having  direction  of  the  music  and  helping  in  every 
way  possible  to  bring  victory  to  the  campaign. 
136 


APPENDIX 

On  Next  Wednesday  Evening  at  the  church  the 
pastor  desires  to  meet  for  conference  and  prayer  the  fol- 
lowing classes  of  people:  (1)  all  members  of  the  "Time 
Legion";  (2)  all  team  leaders  of  the  recently  appointed 
membership  teams;  (3)  all  who  have  done  or  will  do  per- 
sonal work  either  in  private  interviews  or  public  invita- 
tion; and  (4)  all  who  will  join  in  prayer  for  the  revival  in 
general  and  for  a  special  prayer  list  in  particular.  Let  us 
meet  promptly  at  7:30. 

There  Will  Be  a  General  Rally  of  all  our  forces  at 
the  Thursday  evening  prayer  service  in  the  interests  of 
the  evangelistic  campaign.  The  pastor  will  have  charge, 
the  Men's  Chorus  will  sing,  and  an  excellent  meeting  is 
anticipated. 

MY  DETERMINATION 

Realizing  that  I  need  help  and  can  help  in  the  great 
task  of  Christian  living  and  service,  I  am  determined, 
with  the  help  of  God,  to  live  a  better  life  and  render  him 
better  service,  as  indicated  in  the  items  marked  below: 

Christian  Decision 

I  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  my  personal  Saviour. 

I  will  unite  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

I  will  join  the  Epworth  League. 

I  will  make  a  pledge  toward  the  expenses  of  the  church. 

I  will  give  up  any  habit  I  believe  to  be  hurtful. 

I  will  seek  to  live  a  Spirit-filled  life. 

Christian  Devotion 
I  will  read  the  Bible  thoughtfully  every  day. 
I  will  pray  daily  for  myself  and  others. 
137 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

I  will  attend  faithfully  the  following  services  unless  I 
have  a  reason  for  not  doing  so  which  I  believe  God  would 
accept:  Sunday  morning  worship,  the  Sunday  school,  the 
Epworth  League,  Sunday  evening  worship,  the  prayer 
meeting. 

Christian  Service 

I  will  unite  with  the  pastor  and  other  members  of  the 
church  in  daily  prayer  for  a  revival  of  religion  in  our 
midst. 

I  will  do  all  that  I  can  to  interest  the  careless  and  indif- 
ferent in  religious  matters  and  Christian  living. 

I  will  gladly  make  the  revival  meetings  of  the  church 
my  chief  interest  while  they  last. 

That  the  Organization  for  Our  Revival  may  be  at 
once  simple  and  efficient,  the  entire  membership  has  been 
divided  into  five  teams — ^A,  B,  C,  D,  and  E.  These  teams 
are  to  have  their  own  leader,  promote  one  night  meeting  a 
week,  have  charge  of  the  opening  services  on  such  nights, 
and  work  as  teams  in  the  items  of  invitation,  interview, 
and  personal  appeal.  Here  is  a  chance  for  the  last  avail- 
able member  to  carry  his  share  of  this  evangelistic  load. 

The  Pastor  Will  Meet  These  Teams  on  the  evenings 
of  this  coming  week  as  indicated  in  letters  already  mailed. 
Monday,  team  A;  Tuesday,  team  E;  Wednesday,  team  B; 
Thursday,  team  D;  and  Friday,  team  C.  The  general 
public  is  not  expected  at  these  conferences,  but  the  mem- 
bers of  the  team  ARE  expected  and  it  is  earnestly  hoped 
that  only  the  most  pressing  and  emergent  reasons  will 
keep  anyone  away.  This  is  "team  week,"  one  team  at  a 
time,  and  a  most  important  part  of  our  general  campaign 
it  is. 

138 


APPENDIX 

Next  Week  There  Will  Be  Public  Services  con- 
ducted in  the  church  auditorium  every  evening  except 
Saturday.  The  Men's  Chorus  will  lead  in  the  singmg  and 
the  pastor  will  preach.  Team  A  will  promote  Monday 
evening's  service,  team  B  Tuesday  evening's  service; 
team  C  Wednesday  evening's  service;  team  D  Thursday 
evening's  service,  and  team  E  Friday  evening's  service. 

Let  These  Points  Be  Understood: 

1.  That  anyone  is  welcome  at  any  service  during  the 
coming  week,  but  the  team  members  are  expressly  ex- 
pected according  to  the  above  schedule. 

2.  That  past  successes  will  not  suffice  for  present  re- 
sponsibilities. Such  success  should  serve  to  strengthen 
our  faith  and  increase  our  courage  and  inspire  our  hope 
for  greater  victories. 


CARDS  FOR  PERSONAL  WORKERS 

Are  ready  to-day  with  the  following  pledge: 

I  will  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  my  personal  Saviour. 
I  will  publicly  acknowledge  him  as  such. 
I  will  join  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Memorial 
Church  during  the  February  Revival  Campaign. 

Name 

Address 

This  Week's  Program  will  be  full  of  interest.  Mon- 
day, 7 :30,  team  A  in  charge  of  the  preliminary  service  and 
promoting  the  meeting.  Tuesday,  team  B;  Wednesday, 
team  C;  Thursday,  team  D;  Friday,  team  E. 

Team  Leaders  Have  Been  Appointed  as  follows: 
team  A,  D.  H.  Wilbur;  team  B,  R.  W.  Gaylor;  team  C, 
139 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

Mrs.  H.  W.  Jt)nes;  team  D,  Floyd  Stebbins;  team  E, 
George  A.  Studley. 

Now  Everybody  Ready  for  the  first  general  week- 
night  service  in  the  church  auditorium  with  music  by  the 
Men's  Chorus. 

Reports  Are  Most  Encouraging  from  the  various 
cooperating  churches  over  South  Bend  and  Mishawaka. 
Without  doubt  revival  is  in  the  very  air.  The  same  is 
true  in  Goshen  District  and  throughout  the  entire  North 
Indiana  Conference  where  revival  fires  are  beginning  to 
burn  on  many  altars. 

Dr.  Edwards  Asks  that  the  six  o'clock  prayer  hour  be 
observed  just  as  generally  as  possible.  Our  prayers  will 
have  a  wide  range,  inclusive  of  all  who  are  engaged  in 
revival  efforts  and  all  who  should  be  touched  by  such 
efforts. 

The  Enthusiastic  Spirit  and  the  earnest  cooperation 
of  the  various  teams  during  the  past  week  of  organization 
and  preparation  have  been  very  gratifying  to  the  pastor. 
The  spirit  of  prayer  is  manifest,  expectancy  is  in  the  air, 
and  surely  there  are  many  foretokens  of  victory. 

Dr.  Edwards'  Sermon  Themes  for  the  Week 

MONDAY— "When  God  Advertises.'* 
TUESDAY— "The  Man  With  Too  Much  Business." 
WEDNESDAY— "Light  First,  Then  Safety." 
THURSDAY— "Sin  and  Salvation  in  an  Ancient  Song." 
FRIDAY— "Making  the  Great  Choice." 

Bring  TOUR  Red  Book  To-Night 

The  Revival  Is  In  Full  Swing  in  our  own  church  as 
well  as  the  other  churches  of  Mishawaka  and  South  Bend. 

140 


APPENDIX 

Many  campaigns  are  on,  likewise,  all  over  the  North 
Indiana  Conference.  What  a  federation  of  Christian 
thought  and  prayer  and  effort!  What  a  generous  re- 
sponse on  the  part  of  the  people!  What  a  wonderful 
victory  we  are  going  to  have  if  we  will  claim  and  actualize 
it,  for  "this  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world,  even 
our  faith." 

The  Teams  Have  Been  Faithful  during  the  past 
week  and  the  spirit  manifested  is  excellent.  Now  for  a 
long  pull  and  a  hard  pull,  and  a  pull  all  together ! 

Dr.  Edwards'  Sermon  Themes  for  the  Week 

MONDAY— "Witnessing  for  Christ,"  300  Preachers. 
TUESDAY— "The  Excluded  Christ." 
WEDNESDAY— "A  Death  Bed  Repentance." 
THURSDAY— "The  Supreme  Passion." 
FRIDAY— "The  Boy  Who  Was  Lost  and  Found." 

We  Abe  Entering  Upon  the  Final  Week  of  our 
Revival  Campaign.  The  spirit  of  the  meeting  has  been 
excellent,  the  cooperation  on  the  part  of  the  members  has 
been  gratifying,  and  the  results  thus  far  have  been  en- 
couraging. But  the  big  pull  is  just  ahead  of  us.  This  will 
be  the  climactic  week.  Let  the  teams  redouble  their  efforts, 
let  us  keep  the  days  and  nights  clear  so  far  as  possible, 
and  let  us  do  our  utmost  to  bring  to  these  evangelistic 
labors  the  greatest  success  that  has  yet  crowned  our  work. 

This  Is  to  Be  "Win-One"  Week  in  our  great  cam- 
paign. Now  is  the  time  for  intensive  evangelism;  the 
program  of  prayer  and  effort  should  be  directed  toward 
individuals.  Take  them  one  at  a  time.  Let  the  soul 
passion  be  real,  give  the  earnest  invitation,  then  try 
another  and  then  another.  Splendid  as  have  been  the 
141 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

results  thus  far,  this  last  week  should  show  the  biggest 
returns  yet. 

Notice  That  Monday  Evening's  Service  is  adver- 
tised with  300  preachers.  May  be  that  number  is  not 
large  enough;  it  ought  to  be  500.  The  pastor  is  engaging 
them  NOW  just  as  YOU  read  these  lines.  This  is  a  new 
departure,  its  success  depends  on  you.  The  pastor  calls 
for  YOUR  help  and  you  surely  will  not  fail.  Monday, 
February  14,  will  be  the  greatest  St.  Valentine's  Day  we 
ever  witnessed  if  we  get  together  on  this  plan. 


Closing  Sunday 

This  Is  Coronation  Day  in  otu-  Evangelistic  Cam- 
paign. We  are  confidently  expecting  it  to  be  in  every 
sense  the  crowning  day  of  all.  Faith  tells  us  that  many 
will,  this  day,  crown  Jesus  Christ  as  King  of  their  lives 
and  start  forth  on  careers  of  devoted,  consecrated  service. 

A  Suggested  Plan  for  this  afternoon  is  this :  After  the 
happy  reunion  at  the  family  dinner  table  a  season  of 
private  and  family  prayer  for  God's  blessing  upon  the 
climactic  service  to-night.  Then  an  hour  or  two  spent  in 
personal  interviews  and  special  invitation  to  the  evening 
service,  an  appeal  for  the  Christian  life,  a  promise  to  meet 
the  prospect  before  coming  to  the  church  and  then  bring 
the  friend  or  friends  in  time  for  the  opening  note  of  the 
organ.  When  the  invitation  is  given  it  will  then  be  easy 
to  offer  to  lead  the  way  to  Jesus  Christ. 

If  You  Usually  Do  Not  Attend  the  Sunday  evening 
service,  please  try  to  arrange  to  do  so  to-night.  We  need 
every  prayerful,  sympathetic  heart,  every  particle  of  faith, 
every  atom  of  service  in  this  closing  appeal  for  Christ. 

142 


APPENDIX 

When  the  forces  of  the  church  are  fighting  for  the  last 
enemy's  trench,  complacency  at  home  or  elsewhere  is 
unthinkable  in  a  loyal  Christian  soldier.  If  you  cannot 
be  here  you  will  certainly  be  in  prayer.  If  it  is  at  all  pos- 
sible for  you  to  be  present,  your  post  of  duty  is  here. 

Mere  Words  Cannot  Convey  the  pastor's  gratitude 
for  the  faithful  and  efficient  service  which  has  been  ren- 
dered during  this  revival  by  the  membership  of  this 
church.  Never  have  the  responses  been  more  numerous 
or  more  generous.  The  plans  have  been  accepted  with 
alacrity  and  executed  with  enthusiasm.  The  devotional 
services  have  been  conducted  in  a  helpful  way,  the  music 
has  been  exceptionally  good,  the  committees  have  been 
faithful,  the  ushers  have  been  attentive,  the  people  gen- 
erally have  rallied  in  a  noble  way  to  the  standards.  The 
pastor  is  especially  grateful  to  the  team  leaders  who  have 
shouldered  so  much  of  the  responsibility. 

Following  Up  the  Revival 

In  a  Blaze  of  Glory  our  Evangelistic  Campaign 
closed  on  last  Sunday  night.  Never  has  there  been 
greater  enthusiasm  nor  more  blessed  results  than  in  our 
meeting  this  year.  Converts  numbered  150,  while  there 
have  been  135  accessions  to  the  church.  There  are  other 
prospects  who  are  expected  to  make  their  consecration 
soon.  The  spirit  of  revival  should  continue,  although  the 
nightly  meetings  have  stopped. 

Speclil  Plans  for  the  Last  Month  of  the  Conference 
year  have  been  made.  The  Sunday  morning  services  are 
expected  to  be  of  unusual  interest,  the  Sunday  evening 
services  will  be  evangelistic  with  our  big  chorus  leading 
the  singing  and  overflow  crowds  are  looked  for.  Then  on 
143 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

Thursday  evenings  the  services  will  be  in  the  church 
auditorium,  with  the  chorus  singing  and  with  other  special 
music,  a  cheery  evangelistic  service  with  the  teams  pro- 
moting the  services  as  they  did  during  February. 

The  Following  Is  the  Team  Schedule: 
Thursday,  March  2,  Team  A. 
Thursday,  March  9,  Team  B. 
Thursday,  March  16,  Team  C. 
Thursday,  March  23,  Team  D. 
Thursday,  March  30,  Team  E. 

In  Next  Sunday's  Bulletin  we  expect  to  publish  the 
list  of  new  members  for  February. 

I  On  Sunday,  March  26,  the  closing  Sunday  of  the 
church  year,  the  pastor  expects  to  baptize  and  receive  the 
probationers  into  full  membership.  Any  parents  desiring 
to  present  their  children  for  baptism  may  do  so  at  that 
time. 

A  Lenten  Program 

The  Lenten  Campaign  "vill  be  on  during  this  week 
and  the  message  of  the  pastor  at  the  Thursday  evening 
services  will  be  in  harmony  with  the  season.  The  expec- 
tation is  that  every  member  of  the  church  will  try  to  win 
at  least  one  person  to  Christ  before  Easter. 
The  Passion  Week  Program  is  as  follows: 
Sunday,  March  27,  11 :00  a.  m.— 

Sermon,  "The  Kmgly  Christ,"  Pastor. 

SKK)  p.   m. — Organ   Recital,   Mr.   Edwin  Arthur 

Kraft. 
7:30  p.  m.— Sermon,  "The  Religion  of  the  Cross," 
Pastor. 

144 


APPENDIX 

Monday,  March  28,  7:30— 

Sermon,  by  Rev.  C.  Claude  Travis, 

Pastor    Wayne    Street    Methodist    Episcopal 
Church,  Fort  Wayne. 

Tuesday,  March  29,  7:30— 

Sermon,  by  Rev.  James  A.  Beebe, 

Pastor  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  En- 
glewood,  HI. 

Wednesday,  March  30,  7:30— 

Sermon,  by  Rev.  M.  H.  Appleby, 

Superintendent  South  Bend  District. 

Thursday,  March  31,  7:30 — Holy  Communion. 
Friday,  April  1,  7:30— 

Sermon,  by  Rev.  Somerville  Light, 

Superintendent  Goshen  District. 

Easter  Sunday,  11:00 — 

Baptism  and  Reception  of  Members. 
7:30— "The  Religion  of  the  Open  Tomb,"  Pastor. 


I 


MISCELLANEOUS  SAMPLES  OF  EVAN- 
GELISTIC ADVERTISING,  ETC. 

1.  Used  at  the  beginning  of  a  campaign  to 
aid  in  consecration,  and  to  help  in  enrolling 
"prospects." 

145 


EVERY  CHUECH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

I  am  a  church  member  and  desire  prayer  that  I  may  do 
better  service  for  Christ. 

Name 

Address 

I  am  a  Christian,  but  not  yet  a  member  of  a  church,  and 
desire  prayer  that  I  may  follow  the  commands  of 
Christ. 

Name 

Address 

I  am  not  a  Christian  and  desire  your  prayer  that  I  may  be 
saved. 

Name 

Address 

2.  Advertising  a  men's  meeting  for  Sunday 
afternoon  during  a  campaign: 


MEN'S  AlEETING 
METHODIST  MEMORIAL  CHURCH 

SUNDAY.  NOV.  29,  3  P.  M. 
Rev.  Loren  M.  Edwards  will  speak  on 

"MANHOOD  WEIGHED 

IN  THE  BALANCE" 

MR.  CRAWFORD,    MALE  QUARTET 
AND  CHORUS  WILL  SING 

ADMIT    BEARER 


146 


APPENDIX 

3.  Easter  campaign  advertising.  The  Program : 


Pasisiion  Wttk  ^tv\)ittsi 


t 


jftr£(t  iflettobtftt  Episcopal 
iWemorial  Cfjurcd 
illtsffjatoafea,  ainb. 
Horcn  iW.  Cbtoarbsf.  $a£(toc 

PALM  SUNDAY 
11:00  a.  m.— "Comrades  of  The  Cross." 
7:30  p.  m.— "The  Life  that  Lasts." 

PASSION  WEEK 
Monday,  April  17 — A  Day  of  Prayer. 

At  least  one  call  and  invitation  to  Christ  and  the 

Church. 
Tuesday,  April  18—7:30  p.  m. 

Men's  Night — Men's  Chorus. 

Subject— "Behold  the  Man." 
Wednesday,  April  19 — 7:30  p.  m. 

Women's  Night — Women's  Chorus. 

Subject — "Christ  a  Bethany  Guest.** 
Thursday,  April  20—7:30  p.  m. 

Young  People's  Night — Mixed  Chorus. 

Subject— "The  Young  Man  of  Galilee." 
Friday,  April  21—7:30  p.  m. 

Communion  and  Declaration  Night. 

Church  Quartet  will  sing. 

Converts  making  their  declaration  for  Christ  will  re- 
ceive  the   Holy   Communion   first,   followed   by   the 

entire  church  membership. 

EASTER  SUNDAY 

11:00  a.  m. — Baptism  and  Reception  of  Members.    Of- 
fering from  Self-Denial  Week. 
7 -.30  p.  m.--"America's  Easter  Debt  to  the  World." 

147 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 


I 

S   -^ 

i  5 


S 
^ 


^ 


8  ^ 

r— 1    i-rj 


M 

u 


to    o 

n 


11 

II 

o    w 


.s 

> 


»^  I— I 

.2    ©< 


i  I 


•c  o  ** 


1  ^ 

148 


^  -^    Si 

^  $  s 

-^     OS 
SB: 

s  §1 

o    =«    S 

^  s  a 

lift 

rS     Sri   -5 

««  §  .& 

g  a  ^ 


a 


tn 

CO 

u 
'V 


APPENDIX 


Detached  from  the  foregoing  card. 

THE  WEEK'S  MINIMUM  PBOGRAM 

At  least  one  prayer  each  day  for  the  unsaved. 
At  least  one  definite  invitation  for  Christ. 
At  least  one  night  service  attended. 
At  least  one  prospect  at  Communion. 
At  least  one  convert  for  Easter. 

At  least  one  dollar,  if  at  all  possible,  for  Christ's  war-torn 
world. 

SEE  OTHER  SIDE 


Reverse  side  of  above  stub  to  be  torn  off  and 
handed  to  pastor. 

Count  on  me  for  Minimum  Program  for  Passion  Week 
to  the  best  of  my  ability. 


Name.  . 
Address . 


TEAR  OFF  AND  HAND  TO  PASTOB 


149 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

4.  A  boost  from  the  Official  Board  (postal 
card) : 

Mishawaka,  Ind.,  Jan.  8>  1914. 
Dear  Fellow- workers: — 

The  campaign  is  on  and  every  one  of  us  must  have  a 
part  in  it.  The  results  will  depend  largely  upon  your 
active  interest. 

Some  things  that  you  must  do. 

Get  right  with  God. 

Be  right  with  your  fellow  men. 

Spend  much  time  in  prayer. 

Be  an  evangelist,  winning  some  one  for  Christ. 

Make  this  campaign  your  first  interest. 

L.  V.  Albert 

F.  R.  Eberhart 

G.  A.  Studley 
Com.  from  Official  Board. 


150 


APPENDIX 

d 

n  _  1  r-  1         1         t         .         »        '«         * 

a 

fH 

(N 

CQ 

O 

o 

u 
O 

CO 

•«-) 

X 

o 

IC 

M 

i 

X 
O 

c 

kJ 

m 

vn 

•R 

< 
E 
o 

Q 

a: 

u 

> 
o 

z 

1-1 
oo 

v 

1 

1-t 

u  < 

s  5 

< 

,.^. 

o 

ir 

o  3 
*>  < 

0.    < 

Ld 

u 

2 
< 
Q 

z 

Q 

o 

u 

< 

0.' 

CO 

• 

if 

£ 

S 
£ 

i 

>- 
w 

M 

^i; 

s  = 

u 

card  used 
attendanc 

o 

h 

o 

< 

si 

c3    +J 

i 

IJL 

1 

1 

a;    53 

II 

H-J     4J 

1 

1 

s 

a 

" 

1 

151 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

6.  A  decision  card  used  to  good  advantage  by 
personal  workers. 

/  will  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  my  personal  Sanour. 

I  will  publicly  acknowledge  him  as  such. 

I  tvill  join  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Memorial  Church 
on  or  b^ore  Sunday,  December  6,  1914' 

Name 

Address : 

To  increase  efficiency  in  personal  oversight 
over  new  members,  twenty-six  companies  of  a 
"Loyal  Legion"  were  organized,  with  a  captain 
and  a  lieutenant  over  each.  The  plan  called  for 
a  meeting  of  each  company  once  a  month,  with 
reports  concerning  sick,  new  people,  special 
cases  for  pastoral  care,  etc.,  and  resembled  in 
many  features  the  old-time  class  meeting. 

These  cards  were  used  for  announcements  and 
reports: 


152 


APPENDIX 

Jf tr£(t  Mtt^oWt  €pt£(copal  Mtttmisd  Ctatcl^ 
iHtsiljatDafea,  Snbiana 

Report  of  Co of  the  Loyal  Legion  for  month  of 

19 ...  .  G).  meetings  this  month attendance 

Literest Co.  members members  this  church 

elsewhere Church  attendants Sunday 

School Prayer  Meeting 

Sick 

Strangers 

Pastor 

CaUon 

New  Members 

For  Ch.  or  S.  S 

Capt Lieut 

Please  hand  or  mail  to  Pastor  the  first  day  each  month. 

LOYAL  LEGION 

jFixsit  Mttfiohifit  €pt£;copal  MtmatisH  Cf^uvtt^ 

Dear  Friend : — 

Company of  the  Loyal  Legion  will  hold  its 

next  meeting  on at 

at The  meeting  will  be  an  important 

one  and  as  a  member  of  this  company  you  are  urged  to  be 

present. 

Capt. 

Lieut. 

153 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST. 


JOIN 


Evangelistic  advertising: 

THE  ARMY  of  People 

AT  THE  METHODIST  MEMORIAL  CHURCH 

Next  Sunday,  February  20,  1916. 
Closing  Day  of  the  Revival  Campaign. 

At  9 :45,  AH  Departments  of  the  Sun- 
day School. 

Dr.    Loren   M.  Edwards   will   preach 
morning  and  evening. 
11:00— "Marvel  Not.'' 
7:00— "The  Last  Day." 

The  Rev.  J.  J.  Fischer  wiU  sing  at 
both  services  and  will  direct  a  chorus 
of  fifty  voices. 


I^ou  are  tnbiteb  to  attenb  tibe  Special 
jlWeetings;  noto  in  prasre£J£(  at  tfie  jFim  jWetl)= 
obtsit  jiflemottal  Cburci).  Special  Vermont;. 
<@oob  jBnuit,  tnclubtng  Mtn*^  Ct)orus(. 

Committee  *W 

You  will  be  welcome  any  ni^ht. 

Tuesday  ni^ht  is  Men's  Ni^ht 


154 


APPENDIX 

The  mails  were  extensively  used  by  the  pas- 
tor to  carry  his  plans,  appeals,  encouragements, 
and  exhortations  to  the  members  of  the  church 
and  to  prospects.  Samples  of  evangelistic  let- 
ters follow: 

(The  following  letters  were  issued  in  type- 
written form  and  bore  the  pastor's  signature:) 


Mishawaka,  Indiana, 

January,  1914. 
Dear  Friend: 

We  are  now  in  the  midst  of  Revival  Meetings  at  the 
Methodist  Memorial  Church.  They  are  being  held  to 
quicken  the  spiritual  lives  of  those  who  are  Christians 
and  to  win  for  Christ  and  the  Christian  life  those  who 
are  not.  Therefore  all  of  us  have  some  interest  in  this 
forward  movement,  and  will  be  benefited  in  any  part  we 
may  take  in  it. 

This  campaign  is  expected  to  close  on  Sunday,  February 
first,  so  that  whatever  is  done  must  be  done  quickly. 

I  shall  be  glad  to  see  you  attending  these  services  and 
identifying  yourself  with  this  work.  Whatever  step  you 
may  take  in  that  higher  and  better  life  toward  whose 
goal  we  are  striving  will  rejoice  my  heart. 

You  may  be  assured  of  my  prayers  and  of  a  desire  to 
help  you  in  any  way  possible. 

Faithfully  yours, 

LoREN  M.  Edwards. 
155 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

n 

January  14,  1914. 
Dear  Friend: 

You  probably  know  that  the  Revival  Campaign  is  now 
in  full  swing  at  the  church.  Every  meeting  is  important, 
and  every  service  which  you  can  render  is  needed. 

To-night  has  been  called  "New  Members'  Night"  at 
the  Revival,  and,  personally,  I  am  very  much  interested  in 
the  result. 

All  who  have  been  received  into  our  church  during  the 
present  pastorate  are  to  be  included  in  the  "New  Mem- 
bers," so  you  are  earnestly  urged  to  be  present  at  the 
service  to-night. 

Two  other  things  I  want  to  ask  of  you:  First,  that  you 
remember  the  meeting  in  prayer  for  a  decisive  victory; 
second,  that  you  bring  a  friend  with  you,  if  possible,  who 
is  not  a  Christian,  but  who  may  be  considered  a  prospect. 

I  feel  a  very  close  and  personal  interest  in  all  the  new 
members  and  seek  your  help  in  this  plan  for  to-night. 
With  a  Pastor's  prayers  and  hopes, 

LoREN  M.  Edwards. 

m 

The  Parsonage, 

January  21,  1916. 
Dear  Friend: 

You  know,  of  course,  of  the  great  simultaneous  move- 
ment in  evangelism  which  is  just  before  us  in  Mishawaka 
and  South  Bend. 

Thirty  churches  have  united  their  plans,  their  prayers, 
and  their  efforts  in  this  general  campaign. 
156 


APPENDIX 

Our  church  has  long  ago  committed  herself  to  this 
program  and  expects  to  be  in  this  work  to  the  last  avail- 
able member. 

For  purposes  of  compact  organization  and  efficient  ser- 
vice ill  this  Revival  I  have  divided  our  membership  into 
five  teams.  Each  team  will  have  its  ov/n  leader,  will  be 
responsible  for  the  promotion  of  one  evening  meetmg  a 
week,  and  will  do  team  work  in  the  items  of  visitation, 
invitation,  and  personal  appeal. 

I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  assigning  you  to  Team  "D," 
composed  of  young  people  only,  and  I  am  hoping  for 
your  loyal  cooperation,  for  the  urgency  is  great.  Each 
one  of  us  must  be  faithful  if  this  plan  is  carried  to  success. 

There  will  })e  a  conference  between  the  pastor  and  the 
members  of  your  team  at  the  church  on  next  Thursday 
evening  at  7:30.  This  meeting  is  for  prayer,  counsel, 
organization,  and  the  launching  of  the  campaign  of  your 
team. 

I  am  counting  on  you  to  do  your  best  in  this  important 
movement,  for  the  young  people  have  been  among  our 
best  workers. 

Faithfully,  Your  Pastor, 

LoREN  M.  Edwards. 

IV 

December  27,  1916. 
As  the  pastor  of  the  church  I  am  writing  you  concern- 
ing a  matter  of  great  importance.  Knowing  your  con- 
stant interest  in  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  church  and 
the  salvation  of  those  around  you,  I  take  the  liberty  of 
including  you  in  a  plan  of  personal  evangelism  in  which 
there  is,  I  believe,  a  great  outcome. 
157 


EVERY  CHUECH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

The  first  of  the  year  is  just  ahead;  a  time  when  many 
people  give  serious  thought  to  the  eternal  issues,  and 
when  they  make  resolutions  for  the  future.  Why  not 
capitalize  this  fact  for  Christ  and  his  kingdom?  I  propose 
a  plan  for  receiving  a  class  of  at  least  seventeen  new 
converts  into  the  church  on  the  first  Communion  Sunday 
of  nineteen  seventeen;  that  will  be  on  January  14. 

For  my  part,  I  have  a  list  of  seventeen  prospects  who 
are  now  the  subjects  of  my  special  prayers  and  will  be 
interviewed  by  me  concerning  their  own  surrender  to 
Christ  and  reception  into  the  church  on  that  Communion 
morning. 

I  would  like  to  have  seventeen  people  who  will  be  the 
leaders  of  groups  of  sevens  for  prayers  for  definite  persons 
and  who  will  conduct  a  personal  work  campaign  for  these 
prospects  with  the  above  object  in  view. 

I  want  you  to  be  one  of  these  leaders  with  the  privilege 
of  selecting  your  own  group  members. 

There  will  be  a  meeting  of  the  group  leaders  at  the 
church  following  the  regular  service  on  next  Sunday 
evening  for  further  counsel  and  prayerful  planning  for 
this  unique  but  very  promising  hand  to  hand  campaign. 

These  seventeen  leaders  have  been  selected  with  great 
care  and  after  earnest  and  prayerful  meditation,  so  that 
it  is  with  the  confident  hope  and  expectation  that  I 
assume  that  you  can  serve. 

Meantime  will  you  please  be  much  in  prayer  that  we 
may  be  divinely  guided  and  that  rich  results  may  crown 
our  labors.'^ 

158 


APPENDIX 

It  would  be  helpful  for  you  to  sit  down  and  write  out 
your  own  list  of  seventeen  names  of  those  for  whom  you 
would  be  willing  to  join  with  others  for  their  salvation. 

Expecting,  unless  notified  to  the  contrary,  to  see  you  at 
the  time  and  place  indicated,  and  with  gratitude  for  your 
cordial  spirit  of  cooperation,  I  am 

Faithfully  Your  Pastor, 

LoREN  M.  Edwards. 


The  Parsonage, 

January  31,  1917. 
Dear  Friend: 

As  you  know,  preparations  are  now  in  full  swing  for  our 
great  evangelistic  campaign  in  February.  I  know  of  your 
interest  in  the  movement  and  in  the  salvation  of  those 
around  us.  I  have  your  enrollment  card  signifying  your 
willingness  to  be  a  member  of  one  of  the  "Friendly  Fif- 
ties," and  it  cheers  my  heart  to  know  your  fine  spirit  of 
cooperation. 

I  have  assigned  you  to  team  A,  and  desire  to  meet 
every  member  of  this  team  on  Monday  evening,  February 
5,  for  plans,  conference,  and  organization.  This  meeting 
is,  of  course,  very  important,  and  I  indulge  the  confident 
hope  that  if  at  all  possible  you  will  be  present  at  that 
time. 

I  want  to  call  your  attention  also  to  a  general  meeting 
of  all  the  teams  and  workers  for  Friday  evening,  February 
9,  under  the  pastor's  leadership. 

159 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

Let  me  ask  you  to  be  much  in  prayer  for  the  work  of 
your  team  and  for  the  success  of  this  campaign.  I  would 
suggest  that  you  compile  a  list  of  prospects  now,  this  list 
not  to  exceed  five  or  six,  and  begin  a  definite  program  for 
the  salvation  of  these  people.  Interview  them,  if  possible, 
on  the  subject  of  their  personal  consecration,  and  invite 
them  to  the  services  in  the  church.  It  would  be  well  also 
to  select  some  nonactive  member  of  the  church  as  your 
special  charge  and  insist  upon  his  coming  to  these  ser- 
vices. This  is  work  requiring  time  and  effort  and  perhaps 
sacrifice,  but  is  immensely  worth  while. 

Thanking  you  for  your  past  interest,  and  good  spirit  of 
cooperation  in  the  work  of  the  church  and  the  kingdom, 
I  am 

Faithfully  yours, 

LoREN  M.  Edwards. 

VI 

The  Parsonage, 

February  8,  1917. 
Dear  Friend: 

You  know  of  the  campaign  of  evangelism  which  is  now 
on  in  ours  and  other  churches.  This  effort  is  to  bring 
many  individuals  to  personal  consecration  to  Christ  and 
to  enlist  them  in  personal  service,  and  also  to  give  spiritual 
uplift  to  the  community  at  large. 

I  have  a  list  of  prospects  for  whom  I  am  offering  daily 
prayer  in  the  confident  hope  that  they  may  make  the 
great  consecration  at  this  time,  and  enroll  with  the  forces 
of  righteousness  in  the  community.  Your  name  is  on 
this  list,  and  I  hope  to  have  an  early  interview  with  you 
in  this  vital  subject. 

160 


APPENDIX 

However,  I  am  taking  this  opportunity  of  telling  you 
how  I  feel  in  this  matter,  and  to  express  the  earnest  wish 
that  you  may  do  this  thing  which  will  mean  so  much  to 
you  and  to  others.  If  your  friends  are  praying  for  you, 
will  you  not  do  as  much  and  pray  for  yourself;  and,  hav- 
ing prayed,  will  you  not  help  answer  your  own  prayer  by 
immediate  and  definite  decision? 

This  is  the  hope  and  prayer  of  your  friend, 

LoREN  M.  Edwards. 

vn 

The  Parsonage, 

February  19,  1917. 
Dear  Friend: 

I  am  sending  you  a  hurried  but  very  personal  word 
in  the  midst  of  these  strenuous  days.  You,  of  course, 
know  of  the  great  evangelistic  campaign  now  in  progress 
at  our  church.  After  a  week  given  to  conference  and 
team  meetings,  and  another  one  to  nightly  services  in 
our  church,  we  have  not  found  you  cooperating  so  far  as 
outward  appearances  are  concerned.  It  may  be  that 
sickness  or  other  unavoidable  circumstances  have  pre- 
vented your  attendance.  Or  it  may  be  that  the  work 
you  have  been  able  to  do  has  been  of  a  private  and  per- 
sonal sort. 

With  no  disposition  to  criticize,  I  am  sending  out  this 
*'S.  O.  S."  call  for  a  general  rallying  of  our  forces.  May  I 
suggest  that  even  if  you  are  deprived  of  privileges  of  the 
public  services  you  may  be  much  in  prayer,  and  avail 
yourself  of  every  possible  chance  of  personal  interviews. 
If  you  know  of  some  prospect  for  whose  salvation  you  are 

161 


EVERY  CHURCH  ITS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

working,  and  desire  help  to  win  this  one  to  Christ,  kindly 
mail  or  phone  the  name  and  address  to  me  and  I  will  see 
that  it  is  cared  for. 

If  at  all  possible,  swing  into  the  main  currents  of  the 
movement  this  week,  for  time  is  short  and  opportunities 
are  passing.  Grateful  for  your  interest  in  the  work  of  the 
church,  and  with  prayers  for  your  efforts  in  this  present 

campaign,  I  am 

Faithfully  yours, 

LoREN  M.  Edwards. 


162 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Libraries 


1    1012  01232  2535 


Date  Due 

^^  a  -m 

F2B  '40 

%  - 

-Ik 

Afy    .,'  ,*•■'     ^' 

i 

NO  12 '52 

nil  J^i^JAd 

^ 

jyj«^"i'"'wi 

-pppSP* 

w^- 

m 

m^a^' 

JTJ 1^  -  t  ^-  T, 

?  f   V.7      -     - 

c^r  81  '8 

t 

f) 

'(K 


iilM^^^ 


